What initially draws my eyes to the tall, stalky plant growing near the Oconaluftee Visitor Center in Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the round, green bulge in a stem near its crown. Called galls , such growths are often caused by insects like wasps and flies, whose larvae use them as safe places to feed and grow. I’m excited to show it to 2025 Steve Kemp writer and illustrator in residence Jim and Leslie Costa , who are leading a Smokies Life Branch Out event exploring the diversity of insects found in the area.

But I’ve barely finished pointing out the find when a new discovery materializes in the tangle of early-fall weeds and grasses. It’s a Chinese praying mantis, six inches long yet easy to miss—its green body blends in perfectly against the wingstem stalk it clings to.

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