Flower Mantis (Harpagomantis tricolor)

Family Hymenopodidae
After searching for 3 years, I have finally found one!! You cannot believe my excitement!!
This has to be the most spectacular mantis we have here and it gets its name from the fact that the male has a spot which looks like an eye on its forewing. This picture is taken from the back so you can see its marking.

This is what it will look like when it has matured as right now it is only 1/2 an inch in length. It is a wingless nymph. Sorry for the poor quality of the picture below but I took it from my book and the flash off the pages make it awful.

They get to be large and their markings mimick the flowers they sit on waiting for insects to come and feed.

The spines of the abdomen look just like the ridges of a flower and as it gets older, it will straighten out.

It has the most spectacular eyes and you will not believe how fast this was when tying to get away from me. I have brought it home and put it in my tank. Hopefully I can keep it alive by feeding it enough insects. I have never seen one in the wild and would love to take pictures as it developes.