Insect and Spider Identification: CLOSED: Can anyone identify this insect?, 1 by riseoflegends

riseoflegends wrote:
This very strange looking insect just showed up in our garden in Baltimore Maryland. It's got a strange, Mantis-like shape. If you look closely, it also has a small metallic plate on it's lower back.

The third image gives a good view of the metallic plate, along with a view of the bug eating a Japanese Beetle (something we were very happy to see; Japanese Beetles are a nightmare for roses). Can anybody tell me what it is?