(Click on images to enlarge)
I got all excited — it obviously wasn't a Chinese mantis; had I finally found a native mantis? I took pictures and posted them to the IN Nature group on Facebook for ID help. That's how I learned that there is another non-native species in the U.S.: the European (or German) mantis.
Their distinguishing feature is the "bull's-eye" on the inside of their upper foreleg.
The next day I went out to the shed and found another (or maybe the same?) European mantis laying an egg case next to first one.
Like the native mantis, both non-native species eat pests, but due to their size (especially the Chinese mantis), they also eat things that are not pests, including native mantises. Some sources say that these non-native species have become naturalized; other continue to call them invasive.
Anyway, I will keep hoping to find a native mantis someday. Not sure they get this far north.
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