Praying Mantis

I love your photos!

Great find! This is a female mantis from genus Stagmomantis. There are three species from that genus found in your area. They do have some differences but it isn't always easy to tell. I believe this is either Stagmomantis carolina or Stagmomantis californica. The third one, Stagmomantis limbata has a blue upper lip, which yours doesn't seem to have. Here are links to references for all three: http://bugguide.net/node/view/149885 http://bugguide.net/node/view/4821 http://bugguide.net/node/view/7985 If you can't figure out which one it is, it is ok to just put Stagmomants sp. in the scientific name section. Additionally, this would be a nice addition to the Marvelous Mantids of the World mission: http://www.projectnoah.org/missions/15738247