The Walking StickPhasmida order

Joy Winebrenner & Rebekah Carroll

Basic Facts

Herbivores (North American species prefer

oak leaves)

Nocturnal

Spend much of the day hiding under leaves

Regions

Predominantly found in tropics/subtropics

Found anywhere there is adequate foliage for hiding

Appearance

Range from ½”(Timema cristinae of N. Am.) to 13” (Phobaeticus Kirby of Borneo) in length

Generally brown or green Some have bright colors or are striped

Stick-like bodies or leaf-life shapes

Many have wings

Females are larger than males

Hard exoskeleton

3 Body Parts:Head, Thorax, and abdomen

FamiliesThere are four major families:

• Family Timemidae -- timema walkingsticks

•Family Heteronemiidae -- common walkingsticks

•Family Pseudophasmatidae -- striped walkingsticks

•Family Phasmatidae -- winged walkingsticks

Defense

Prey to spiders, other insects, birds, reptiles, bats and rodents

Obvious camouflage (some can also change color to fit in with environment)

Fake death or detach limbs to escape

Show bright colors/sounds when threatened

Emit nasty smelling fluid (Anisomorpha buprestoides of North America)

Reproduction

Parthenogenic – females lay eggs without needing to mate with males to produce offspring

Results in 100% female population unless male fertilizes the egg – 50/50 chance of offspring being male

Some species mate depending on abundance of males

Life Cycle: Egg

Female spreads 100-1200 eggs by flicking them to the ground

May bury or stick to tree bark

Some are carried to ants nests as food and protected until they hatch and exit the nest

Life Cycle: Nymph

After 20-30 days, nymph emerges from cap at the end of the egg

Nymph grows through molting exoskeleton

Will continue to molt for several months before reaching adulthood

Can regenerate lost limbs only while molting

Life Cycle: Adult

Life span varies by species: few months – 2 years

Any regenerated legs will be slightly shorter

After six moltings, adult is sexually mature

Pets

Many people like to keep them as pets (depending on their species)

There are over 3000 species of stick and leaf insects and the most commonly kept is the Indian (or Laboratory) stick insect (Carausius morosus).

Stick insects can be handled and can be quite tame, but they are fragile and must be handled with the utmost of care.

Required care is based on their species and original surroundings (humidity, temperature, and food sources).

There are some local laws against having them as pets.

Helpful or Harmful?

Non-Native Pets who are released in the wild become ecological pests.

Sticks can reproduce in the wild and damage the ecosystem where they are not normally found.

They eat and destroy plants in the wild.

References

http://exoticpets.about.com/cs/insectsspiders/a/stickinsects.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phasmatodea

http://www.ehow.com/about_5093235_walking-stick-bug.html

http://www.biology.ualberta.ca/locke.hp/walk_sticks.htm

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/bugs/stick-insect/