Carolina mantis

The Carolina mantis or mantid is the state insect of South Carolina. It is also called a praying mantis. This is but one of many species of Mantodea .It is sometimes kept as a pet, as a large, easily cultured insect. The Carolina Mantis is the smallest of the three types native to North America. It can grow up to 7.6 cm or about 3 inches in length. In the South it is known as rearhorse or mulekiller.

The Carolina Mantis has a dusty brown or gray color used to camouflage with the pine forests and sand hills of the Southeastern part of the United States. A distinguishing trait is that its wings only extend three quarters of the way down the abdomen.

 It also, unlike most insects, will turn its head to watch a person or an insect that it is attempting to catch.

It is a voracious predator, capturing many insects in the course of its life, and occasionally it will capture and eat an anole (a type of lizard) or even a hummingbird.

Carolina mantis egg cases (called an ootheca singularly) can be purchased in garden supply centers as a means of biological control of pest insects.