Hi
,
We all know what this bug is - it's a stick insect, or "walking stick". Basically harmless creatures that will walk on you like all of the "friendly" insects (like mantises). Besides being the world's longest insects, they're fascinating in
several other ways. Here are just a few...
1. Walking sticks can regenerate a leg if it loses it somehow. Like spiders, a new leg will appear when it molts. An adult can even force itself to molt to grow a new
leg!
2. Female stick insects can reproduce without a male. But then the offspring is always female. If she finds a mate, then there's a 50/50 chance of both male and female
offspring.
3. Certain stick insects have interesting ways to protect themselves. Some have colorful wings that, if suddenly displayed, can frighten a
predator. Some have sharp "thorns" on their legs that can inflict pain, while others have a type of tear gas they can spray at an enemy. Still others can simply play dead, like an opossum.
4. Their eggs look like seeds. So, the stick insect will simply drop them all over the forest floor. This helps to ensure that many will survive, even if some are eaten. However, some of the
eggs have a unique quality to them in that there is a fatty capsule at the end called a capitulum. Ants like to eat this. So, they will often pick up the "seeds" and take them to their underground fortresses where they will enjoy this meal. When they're done, they discard the rest - which is the egg. The egg is now protected from predators until they hatch, and then make their way out of the ant nest.
Stick insects have always fascinated people. The more we look into nature, the more evidence we see of design. The more we look into specifics of each type of creature, the more we see of
purpose.
