Tenodera sinensis (Chinese Mantis)
Cathy and I were out back this evening and she spotted this mantis on one of the chairs on our patio. I think (but I’m by no means sure) that it is a Chinese mantis (Tenodera sinensis), which were introduced here from China in 1896 to combat pests. This is a smallish one, only about two and a half inches long. It was getting a bit dark and the pictures I took by available light were not very good, so I turned on the flash and got a few pictures that are reasonably good, with the mantis standing out well against the dark background.