I remember growing up as a young kid in western PA in the late 1970s always hearing the story that it is illegal to kill a praying mantis, becuase they are endangered. My wife says that she heard the same thing growing up in GA.
I found the Snopes page on the subject but it doesn’t shed a lot of light.
How widespread is this myth and where/how did it originate?
Heard it in Georgia, last ten years.
My mom heard it growing up in MD, in the 50’s as did I in SE PA in the 80’s.
The thing is you shouldn’t kill them. They eat all sorts off garden pests. Plus they make neat pets. I’ve cought them in the late fall and they usually lay a couple egg cases in the cage before they die in mid to late winter and all the cases when put outside hatch in the spring.
JillGat’s Staff Mailbag article. This page offers a theory that the myth was perpetuated by farmers to protect the valuable insect, but that’s a bit light on provable fact IMO.
Actually the so-called myth is true: you do get seven years of bad plagues if you kill a praying mantis.