California Mantis (Female)

I just found this image as well. Check out the description. http://bugguide.net/node/view/688563/bgimage

I think this is more likely a female Stagmomantis species. There are two species of Stagmomantis found in California, S. californica and S. limbata. They are very similar looking. I believe there are differences in habitat and size of the mantids. S. limbata has a blue upper lip (which I can't really see in this image). S.californica males have differences with the color of the wings and abdomen (not helpful in this case, since yours is a female). Hope this helps some! Here are a couple of links from Bugguide: http://bugguide.net/node/view/149885 http://bugguide.net/node/view/7985 Sphodromantis viridis is not known to be found in North America in the wild, though I believe that enthusiasts do keep them as pets. Please consider adding this to the Marvelous Mantids of the World mission: http://www.projectnoah.org/missions/15738247