Childrens Stick Insect

This insect belongs to a genus group called pharnacia all stick insects in this group have extremely thin bodies.

Childrens stick insect.

Males are slender and light reddish brown. Should a bird or other predator grab hold of its leg a stick insect can still make an easy escape. Stick insects can regenerate limbs. Female pharnacia like the one shown here are wingless and can hold their legs close to their body to make themselves look even more like a twig.

Like the spiny leaf insect this species has a high degree of sexual dimorphism which is the difference in size and shape between males and females. They are found in all continents except antarctica. The wings are yellowish with bright patches of yellow and blue at the base. Camouflage is one of the primary protection techniques used by children s stick insects as they often have the appearance of leaves.

Found a pair of children s stick insect nymphs early summer 2007 when we were searching for leaf beetle larvae on gum leaves in karawatha forest we found two children s stick insect nymphs on the top a small about 2 meters tall stringy bark gum tree. Using a special muscle to break it off at a weak joint the imperiled insect simply sheds the leg in a defensive strategy is known as autotomy. Children s stick insects are easy to keep and both males and. The females are usually a beautiful apple green colour but can also be cream or very light pink or purple.

The children s stick insect or yellow winged spectre is found throughout the eastern coast of queensland new south wales and victoria their bodies grow up to around 14cm in length and both the males and females have two pairs of wings. In this species the females look like leaves and males look like sticks. There are approximately 3 000 different species of stick insects. Children s stick insects range from green red brown cream pink and purple in colour depending on the gender and the age of the insect and wings are typically a faint yellow to green.

They generally mimic their surroundings in color usually green brown grey etc. Stick insects are also known as stick bug phasmid leaf insect bug insect and walking stick etc.