Moved from Stagmomantis.

iris oratoria

Moved from Mantids.

Moved from Mantids.

Thanks for all your help guys. I added some more images of the same specimen with an emphasis on the front legs. They're not from the best angle because I didn't know what to look for when I originally took the pictures, but hopefully they will be of some assiatance. I took a look at some of the images of M. religiosa in the guide and it seems like my last picture would be our best shot at seeing a spot (if it has any). I know there's not a lot of detail in the area that we need to look at, but I think there's enough to say that there's not a distinctive spot. Are the spots usually less obvious in an immature European mantis?

I agree with Eric, its still immature and therefore hard to ID. It could be S. carolina or S. californicae, but its hard to tell. The way to check if its a Euro mantid (M. religiosa) would be to look for two "eye spots" inbetween the raptorial legs, near the thorax.

This is not an adult, so therefore it is not possible to identify further. My initial guess, however, would be a European mantid, as that species has been introduced widely. Native species don't generally range that far north.