If camouflage is her game, her wings match all the parched and brown leaves in our drought-stressed yard.
The rain predicted last night fizzled and long-term forecasts show only average or less-than-average rainfall predicted for the rest of autumn, so our mantis will continue to blend right in. Rick shot this photo for me. We were on the front porch when we saw her moving up the brick wall. I grabbed the camera, but by the time I returned she had already climbed out of my reach. With just the macro lens on the camera I was sorta-outa-luck, but I gave the camera to Rick and told him to aim at the bug, click, and pray. It worked!
p.s. In another shot (not quite so stellar) I could clearly see she had six segments on her belly, so I think that makes her a female. From past reading, I remembered females have six segments and males have eight.