Carolina Mantis on Celosia

In our back yard garden. The plant is perhaps Celosia argentea var. plumosa, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celosia » “… a small genus of edible and ornamental plants in the amaranth family.” The insect is Carolina mantis, “Stagmomantis carolina.”

Confirmed at BugGuide as “Stagmomantis carolina” or “Carolina Mantis”; http://bugguide.net/node/view/1126422
BugGuide's "Info" tab says this about the insect's food, http://bugguide.net/node/view/4821 » “Butterflies, moths, flies, small wasps and bees, true bugs and caterpillars. Often considered beneficial, mantids will eat almost anything they can catch and therefore do not differentiate whether their meal is beneficial to man or not.”

Celosia genus page at PhytoImages, http://phytoimages.siu.edu/cgi-bin/dol/dol_terminal.pl?taxon_name=Celosia&rank=genus

1 year ago (“Eastern Tiger Swallowtail”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2014-08-06
2 years ago (“600 miles (960km) later…”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2013-08-06
3 years ago (“Happy Birthday, Dad!”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2012-08-06
4 years ago (“August abstract #3”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2011-08-06

[ IMG_4114S12x9tm :: f/6.3 :: 1/320" :: ISO-200 :: 250mm ]