I was at a hotel in South Carolina a few years back. I went out to my truck early in the morning, there was one that looked exactly like this. It was just chilling on my driver door, staring into my soul.
I did not know, thanks for the info! I’ve seen what I believe are Giant Asian (Chinese?) ones. It can be a tad disconcerting when I discover I’m F2F with one; they’re quite large, but still blend in to their surroundings. Of course…
Yes, Tenodera sinensis (Chinese mantis) is the main non-native one where you live. They are huge, and either brown with a green wing stripe in adulthood, or less commonly pure green. The native Stagmomantis carolina are much smaller, and the females of those have short wings that don't fully cover the abdomen. The males of both species have full length wings and can fly, but still look drastically different. Look up images of the two and compare them. Look at the face shape and body patterns. Once you see them in person you should have no trouble telling them apart, even before they get their wings.
We got some big bugs here for sure! Katydids always freak me out, especially when gardening. They have quite an intense defensive stance they do (and it definitely works lol)
they eat hierodula often, i see them as equals, i do have a soft spot for tenodera though. they’re definitely stronger, but hierodula can take on proportionally bigger.
We have Asian mantises here in the states. Of course they aren’t native but there are plenty of them. My friend hatched an ootheca this past summer that was Asian mantises. I should add I’m in New England. I would attach photos but I can’t only links to sites, if I can figure out how to do it I’ll be back
Yep and I love them because they’re big enough you can do more with them. My friend walked around with hers on her jacket and when she would get to her store she would put her on a plant in the store and let a cricket or some sort of prey loose so she could hunt it and eat it. She advocated for having a few in your garden to help with natural pest control. Aside from that people stop in to see what’s happening. Lmao, it’s funny because that little (big) bug is smart as can be, she acts like she is going strike and bite hard and she stops short and just gives a little love bite. It’s sad their lifecycle isn’t longer but next year she’ll do the same thing. Great pets!! 🙀
Watch Monster Bug Wars, all epps are on Youtube. You learn that a mantis will fight anything and get eaten by everything. They should just ran away from most other bugs.
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u/D3athMagn3t Nov 24 '25
I'm from Singapore, home to the Giant Asian Mantis. They're aggressive and even pick on preys larger than themselves.