Praying Mantis

This looks like a gravid (full of eggs, so essentially pregnant) female. This is a mantis from genus Tenodera. Mantids from this genus have been introduced to North America, mostly through garden centers that sell the egg cases. They have become quite invasive and seem to be pushing many of our native species (which are smaller) out of their ranges. There is a good chance that this is a Chinese Mantis, Tenodera sinensis. To be certain, I would need to be able to see the area between the front legs and/or the wings. Knowing the size can help as well. Here is a link that may help: http://bugguide.net/node/view/386 This would be a nice addition to the Marvelous Mantids of the World mission: http://www.projectnoah.org/missions/15738247