The Amazing Walking Stick... The Insect

I was taking out the trash after dinner the other evening and noticed the pictured insect on the window screen.  She (most are anyway so it's a good bet she is in fact a she) is 4 to 5 inches long and a nice light brown, almost a beige.  I was surprised to see her as I thought they only lived in tropical climes.

As usual in preparation to writing this post I checked out Walking Stick Insects on the Internet and found some very interesting facts about them, interesting to me anyway.

There are over 3000 different types of Walking Sticks know to exist.  They come in all sorts of colors, sizes and textures.  Some are plain like the young lady I found and some are hairy, some bumpy.  There has to be a Walking Stick that will appeal to most everyone.  The largest one was measured at 21 inches counting it's legs.

You don't have to worry about them taking a bite out of you as they only eat leaves with one exception.  The exception is when the Walking Sticks molt, they are known to consume the outgrown shell. The eat mostly at night and just hang around the trees and shrubs during the day. 

They aren't defenseless creatures either.  They will sacrifice a leg if necessary and grow a replacement in the next couple of molt cycles.  They also will regurgitate a foul smelling substance and if necessary spit it at the predator who dares to get too close.  I'm happy to report that I experienced none of this when taking it's picture.

Many folks take Walking Sticks as pets.  While interesting for a short time I would think one would tire of them fairly soon as they don't do much.  I suppose they would be good pets if you could teach them to roll over or shake hands.  There are many examples of "imported" creatures creating ecological havoc because they are imported.  Don't add to that problem and be prepared to dispose of the creature properly to protect our environment.

The most interesting thing about Walking Sticks is the female don't need a male to reproduce.  They will lay their eggs (actually they just let them drop to the ground) and when they hatch, up to 3 years later, they will all be females and identical to their mother (clones?).  The female does emit a pheromone to attract males but it sounds to me like that isn't necessary to make babies but the male is necessary to make male offspring.  The eggs have a very hard shell and the hatchling will emerge by opening the shell via a hing they create.

This is a very interesting insect.  I hope you may be inspired to find out more about them.