Found in my garden. I’m located in Colorado. Measured approximately 3 inches in length

by eternalpancakes

33 Comments

  1. OkInevitable5020

    Best friend!! These guys are the ultimate garden predator and super cool to have around.

  2. Delicious_Type9760

    Praying mantis are little assassins. I always considered them beneficial.

  3. _ghostperson

    Waterboard it and see if it has buttworms!!

    Edit: they carry parasitic buttworms. Praying mantis are awesome bugs and I’m saying this to help the mantis purge the worms, not harm the mantis.

  4. kadrin88

    Better to ask r/nativeplantgardening. They might better know if it’s the invasive variety or not. 

    Edit: fixed it. 

  5. Soillover1968

    Bestest best best friend!!! And so cool to watch!!!

  6. CReisch21

    The only thing they do I don’t like is when they get big enough, they will kill and eat humming birds. I love my little humming birds.

  7. Sonoran_Dog70

    Always brings a smile when I find a mantis or an orb weaver in my garden.

  8. knowwwhat

    Best friend for you, and an enemy of your enemies. Enjoy your new friend, I’m so jealous 😍

  9. ToadLoverOfTule

    Friend unless he is on your hummingbird feeder. Then you can just move him to another location.

  10. sarg7ant

    FRIEND!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ he will genocide all the pests that kill your plants.

  11. Its_a_stateofmind

    The kind of friend we wish we all had, but definitely the kind we all need.

  12. Reinheitsgetoot

    Depends if it thinks you’re a mate.

  13. Perfect_Collar_3139

    Friend for you, Foe for its mate lol

  14. Academic-Change-2042

    Mantids are not really friends or foes. They eat good and bad insects alike, and some have even been seen eating hummingbirds (if you don’t believe me, Google it).

  15. acatwithumbs

    It looks like from other replies you’re potentially concerned about them being invasive? If that’s true I’d say don’t focus too much on killing Chinese mantis just because they’re such a longstanding “invasive species” for over 130 years. Plus it can be tricky to properly ID. But that’s just my perspective, some may disagree.

    You can cull their egg sacs if you’re really concerned and find them in your yard, (there’s also ID guides but I’ve been struggling with positive IDing on those too.) But you’ve probably already got “non-native bees” using your garden too. More helpful to just build up an ecosystem that supports native inhabitants, at least in my opinion cuz I feel bad about ever hurting these guys. They’re such fascinating bugs to watch, and they definitely watch you back, it’s wild!

    You can always move them to a different hunting area if you’re worried tho.

  16. Hazy_eye_dc5

    Might be one of those invasive Chinese hummingbird destroyers. Lowe’s sells these in their stores. Not a friend in my yard

  17. militiadisfruita

    so good. not sure if you know this, but they can fly. and if they like you they will fly straight at your head.

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