Thank you both very much! The mystery is solved! Lol when I posted these pictures I noticed that this mantis maybe a male. Amazing that they "play possum" when frightened or unsure of their surrounds. They seem to be a it shaky on their legs for a while afterwards. I'm slowly trying to...
My young mantis played dead when holding it and it jumped and fell just a few inches on to a towel and went in to a paralyzed state for over 1/2 an hour. I have had two mantids do this and I can't figure out why.