Insect and Spider Identification: CLOSED: Small, mantis-like insect, laying eggs on my porch, 1 by morningdove225

morningdove225 wrote:
I was hoping someone might be able to help me identify this insect now that it's laid hundreds of eggs on my front porch post!

It was very small...maybe about an inch or less in length. It appears to be a mantis-like insect to me, but I've never seen (and cannot find online) one that is this small. When it was done, it flew away so maybe I was wrong, but it looks like it has 4 thin legs, and two thicker legs bunched up (like a mantis) on the segment below its head.

Can anyone help? (I'm in Central New Jersey.)