Praying Mantis Nymph

Found in gardens, meadows, shrubbery, and fields; commonly enters residential areas through windows or on plants.

Carnivorous. Nymphs eat fruit flies, gnats, and small aphids; adults eat larger insects and occasionally small vertebrates.

Ambush predators that stay motionless to blend in before striking. They undergo hemi-metabolous metamorphosis (egg, nymph, adult).

Highly beneficial to the ecosystem and gardeners as biological pest control; harmless to humans and do not carry diseases.