praying mantis - it's a beauty and a garden friend for me.

I think they look neat, but I heard they can and sometimes do eat hummingbirds. Poo on that! :)

OK! I had an idea it was that, but the color and size threw me off. It's bigger than any other mantis I've seen. But I've really let my garden grow wild this year. It's wild kingdom out there!

I've let the natives grow unfettered near my bedroom window, and at night, the noise! Chirping, twittering, beeping, such carrying on you wouldn't believe!

Such a great pic! :)

Nice picture! We have both brown ones and green ones here, and I am happy to see them in my garden. They are one of the only things that eats grasshoppers, which we are plagued with here.

I found one just like this guy on my white butterfly bush yesterday.

Glad2garden, I love all those noises at night. My gardens are full of more buzzers and chirpers than ever before. They love the mix of natives and grasses. I've also found tree frogs in the yard this year - they are really cute little buggers. Never seen them here before and I don't even have a pond (yet)!

Terrene, I wish I had some tree frogs! A friend of mine lives near a swamp-sort-of-thing with lots of them, and they sound so cute.

Chinese Mantids grow up to six inches long. I was shocked the first time I saw one. They can eat hummingbirds, mice, and frogs. Too big to be called a "insect" in my book. lol

This link shows some pics of their styrofoam like egg cases. I picked some of those off of my shrubs and destroyed them last year. There's six pages of photos. I think some people keep them as pets.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bugguide.net

Glad - the odd thing is - I don't have any wet areas in this yard! It is an upland lot. I've seen toads but rarely any frogs. I can't imagine how they stay wet, although we did have a lot of rain early to mid-summer. They are teeny little things.

Here's a pic - this guy was hanging out on the side of the house at night, near the outdoor lights. I think he was catching bugs.

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I've never seen a praying mantis in the yard, but I bet they're around. What an interesting egg case.

Glad, that is a great shot of the praying mantis. I have a few in my garden, but had no idea they could eat small birds! :(
Ohmigosh, Terrene, what a cute little tree frog! I have not seen a tree frog here in many years, no doubt due to all the spraying of pesticides neighbors. But the leopard frogs in the creek have increased this year. I would like to think my organic gardenening methods are helping them a little bit. . .The bug/frog chorus in the evening is nearly deafening! :)

That's the sweetest little frog I ever saw! Are they also called Spring Peepers? The ones that make that cute peeping sound?

I love the mantis. I found an egg sack last fall when I was tearing the plants out of my barrels on the deck. (I cover the barrels for the winter to preserve the dirt - this year I plan to cover them with clear plastic and wintersow right in them.) I put the egg sack in a very protected place for the winter. I waited and waited for them to hatch. Then I read that you probably would never know that the eggs hatched - they emerge from a tiny hole and are tiny and they scatter right away. But I did see two small ones on the deck this summer so I think it was from that egg sack. Haven't seen them in a while now. They probably see me everyday though!