Oligonicella scudderi was first described in 1870 by the Swiss entomologist Henri Louis Frédéric de Saussure and named in honour of the American entomologist Samuel Hubbard Scudder from specimens found in Georgia.

In 1894 another mantis Oligonyx bolliana was described from Dallas, Texas and from northern Mexico by Saussure and his collaborator, Leo Zehntner.

Its range extends from the Great Plains and Nebraska, southwards to Texas and Mexico.

[1] This is a small, pale brown, stick-like, ground-dwelling species of mantis that grows to a length of about 35 mm (1.4 in).

When disturbed they tend to hide in tussocks of little bluestem grass (Schizachyrium scoparium) where their colouration makes them difficult to spot.