Really? I'm in PA too and I get scads of them every year. They blend in with my annuals and scare the bejeebus out of me when I turn the hose on -- out they come and they're not happy. He seems OK tho.

gloria

We have so many creatures here in Raleigh that eat insects, I don't think there are many left for the mantises. We have skinks, toads, tree frogs, turtles, bats etc.. Maybe there are more around, but like you said, they blend in with the foliage so well I may not "see" them.

Although, a few years ago I saw one on my dining room table! Talk about scaring the bejeezus out of someone!! How it ever got in the house is still a great mystery lol

Oooh, I love mantises and I rarely see them either---maybe every 3 or 4 years....of course I'm in the middle of the city and there's not a lot of habitat for them....I'm officially jealous of you gvargo--when I lived in a small town in Kansas I saw them pretty much every summer, but now it's an occasion to spot one....

And yes, there is something spooky about a big bug that turns its head over its shoulder and looks you right in the eye...I always feel like I should start apologizing to it or something....

LOL, Shelley you said it! Whenever I water my plants and disturb one they come out and stare me right in the eye and, yes, I do start apologizing for interrupting them or calling attention or whatnot. I notice when they're very unhappy they do that thing boxers do when they're about to fight, they go back and forth from one leg to another - or in their case one set of legs to another.

I have one living right now in my Madagascar Palm tree and he turns his head and looks at me as soon as I come outside with the hose in my hand. It's his/her yard.

I like Monica's because s/he is posing and smiling for the camera.

They're almost other-worldly. They look like tiny aliens and who knows - maybe they are! I saw one of the brown ones on my house a few days ago. I see a few every summer. One year, I apparently brought in a cocoon because when spring came, I had teeny, tiny mantises all over my GH. Then they just all disappeared, so I assume they probably had nothing to eat in there (what DO they eat??) and all died. I was disappointed...

Denise in Omaha

Ok, I had to find out what the eat and this is what it says... Mantises only eat live insects for food. This can be flies, crickets, moths, caterpillars, locusts and some other insects. Whoa...can you imagine the size of mantis that would eat a locust???

Denise in Omaha

I bet there was ONE big happy one left in your greenhouse :-) They will happily feast on one another if there's no other food around....Check out their mating habits...

Mantises can, and do, eat hummingbirds! I love 'em, though. Hummingbirds aren't a staple in their diet of bugs, but they are opportunistic predators! There are a couple of mantises in my yard over the summer, which was nice to see. Keeps the bug population in check.

Ewwwww...I did not know that....now I can't get the picture out of my head...thanks :-)

Speak of the devil:

We have lots of bugs in Florida but I haven't seen one of those. Maybe I need to get some. :)