It's the first mantid I've seen in our small yard. Too bad it's a Chinese mantid. :( But I used the broomstick to gently lift him off the roof (where he'd run to by then, after I re-closed the door) and put him in my garden before leaving for work. Didn't want to drive down the road with him there :)

We found other interesting animals, like pollywogs and water scorpions.

The University of Kentucky has some good website pages on mantids. And here is a good page on the species found in the U.S.:

http://www.uvm.edu/extension/publications/el/el43.htm

Bugguide.net also has great pics.