A mantis of some variety..........a garden good guy.

Praying mantis?

Hi gardengal I thought praying mantis was a foreign insect that eats everything indiscriminately and hence not welcome ?

If I'm not mistaken, that's an invasive Chinese mantid which are doing significant harm to the populations of our native (mantid) species.

Regardless of where they're from, I hate seeing them in my gardens. If they would stay in the veggie garden where they could feed on stink bugs, squash bugs, and caterpillars all day long, they would be welcome. But if I grab one from my flower gardens and put on the squash, it will fly back to the flowers as soon as I back away.

They seem to prefer the bees and butterflies, grrrrr.

They are considered a garden beneficial and mantis eggs are sold in the same manner as lady beetles and other beneficial/predatory isects. But they are rather indiscriminate in their diet. I have no personal experience with them - they are not present in my area.