Rescue squad.

Preying Mantis.

Likes to eat other bugs.

It's a mantid of some kind (praying mantis) and they are generally considered garden good guys as they eat all manner of harmful insects. They actually eat pretty much anything they can catch including bees, butterflies, etc., so not completely beneficial.

'They actually eat pretty much anything they can catch including bees, butterflies, etc., so not completely beneficial.'

Like anything. If there gets to be too many of them, overall results could be detrimental.

Could it be going after whatever bored into the trunk and killed the leader?

hairmetal, the mantid will not be interested a long gone cicada.

Could it be after the deposited eggs?

Do you mean will they dig the eggs out? No, they don't eat insect eggs or anything else that doesn't move.

Or, do you mean will they sit and wait for the eggs to hatch? Nope.

Praying mantids eat any crawling, hopping, or flying insect. I've seen them snatch bees out of the air when hovering above a flower.

Ok. I just can’t imagine what it’s after, then. It’s been there for days.

Ambush predators tend to stay in place waiting for prey as long as environmental conditions are favourable. Not a lot of cognitive activity going on with it.

I one time had an aphid infestation on a shrub completely wiped away with a single mantis. They are remarkable warriors against garden insect pests

I’ll let him/her hang out then.

That could be a female thinking about depositing her egg case (technical term "ootheca") on one of the branches.

.....or it could be parasitized by a horsehair worm, which is fairly common.

These critters are horrific predators, at least according to a documentary that I once saw. They can move so fast and their 'arms' are so strong that they can prey on hummingbirds! They also prey among themselves, it is not uncommon for the female to devour the male while mating! Talk about a happy death...

If you get them to climb on your hand and calm down... you can walk them right up to a stink bug... skipper... or whatever on a flower... and (if hungry) will snag the bug and eat it right on your hand. They are great to watch.

Not this year, but other yrs there were some on my big butterfly bush, and I kept finding pieces of monarch wings lying on the ground underneath.

One time I watched one catch a big hornet and started chewing it, then let it go -- guessing because it tasted bad.

I have them every year in NJ/Zone 7. We love 'em. Mind you, I do jump when I see one lurking about all of a sudden, but they are harmless..., at least to humans (would not want to be an aphid). I think they must overwinter under my deck as every year they seem to center in on it. Wish I had taken pics, did not realize they were somewhat rare in a lot of America. And they are big, but beautiful! They are still about as it's still been quite warm. Apparently they were introduced to America from Europe. Curious about their range. I see they are established in the Northeast to Vermont.., not sure of their southern range.

We do have native mantis species, though none are particularly large. The imported invasives are huge. They are much more common in tropical and semi-tropical locations.

The tiny hatchlings will eat aphids but not the adults. The ootheca needs to be located near a food source of some kind so that the brood doesn't completely devour each other.

Beng, it's depressing to see a pile of butterfly wings on the ground, isn't it? I agree that they are an incredible creature, fascinating to watch.

One sunny spring day in Virginia, I was doing playground duty at the daycare center where I had one of my many part-time jobs while going to school. There were dozens of big Chinese mantids swarming the area and the kids were terrified.

One landed on my coat and thinking to make it a "teaching moment", I picked it up to show the little ones how interesting these insects were, how harmless. Well, I'm sure that I single handedly scarred those babes for life. The mantis swiveled its head around and bit me in the soft skin between my thumb and forefinger and hung on until I was dripping blood.

The poor things ran away screaming, lol!

Now really confused about the species I am seeing (native, European, Northeast, Chinese, tropical/subtropical). Mine are big and very green.

okay, after a bit of research, looks like I am seeing Chinese Mantids (obvious introduced).

about a month back ... i had one on the front of the house.. for a few days ... all the night bugs were attracted to the light shining out the window ... and it was very active ... never rule out night time activity .... when you see something appearing to be dormant during the day ... [too bad it didnt figure out it couldnt climb on glass ... though it moved around the screen faster than i expected ....]

watch for the overwintering egg sacks.. dont destroy them for next years batch ...

ken

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Mantid+eggs&t=ffcm&iax=images&ia=images

If it’s a giant one ... then it’s most likely a Chinese one. They make the bounce ball sized round egg cases.