Well....think about it for a minute. Praying mantids will grab at anything that moves and that includes beneficial critters, too. I don't like them anywhere near my gardens, where the good guys outnumber the pests.

Yes, they will snatch bees foraging on flowers. And it's so aggravating to see little piles of butterfly wings on the ground under their favorite flowers.

They don't go after aphids, scale insects, slow moving caterpillars, or whitefly....and I've observed one releasing a stinkbug unharmed immediately after snatching it.

I've also seen them kill the little anole lizards common to the deep south. Look on YouTube for videos of them lurking on hummingbird feeders and preying on the tiny birds as they come to feed.

The Garden Clinic would have been a good forum in which to post your question.