Walking Stick

[jeff kushner]

Interesting creatures....saw this guy when Kerry was over last weekend.

 

[wellington]

Used to see a lot of them when I was a kid camping every weekend. Haven't seen one in years. They are so interesting.

 

[KarenSoCal]

I really enjoy these and praying mantises. How do all their innards fit into such a narrow space?

Saving a praying mantis from an evil boy got me into a fistfight in 2nd grade. Some things are just worth fighting for!

 

[wellington]

I really enjoy these and praying mantises. How do all their innards fit into such a narrow space?

Saving a praying mantis from an evil boy got me into a fistfight in 2nd grade. Some things are just worth fighting for!

Good for you. Yes, love those mantis. Saved one a few years ago from the sidewalk at a Menards. It was huge. Biggest I have ever seen.

 

[TammyJ]

Love them, stickies and mantis!

 

[Tim Carlisle]

Sweet! I spotted one myself climbing on my Japanese Maple yesterday. Wasn't quite as big as yours though.

 

[jeff kushner]

We raised Preying Manti when I was a kid....We would catch an egg bearing female & put her under the net. Thousands of little ones. Mom wasn't a big fan when big sis let a bunch out by accident. They are cool too!

OT saw a vid on Nature of a dozen Hermit crabs gathering on a Caribbean beach...all in a row by size...then all swapping shells by going forward!

The 1st guy found a suitable empty shell...coolest thing I ever saw them do!

 

[Denny1st]

Awesome critters. Id imagine they're much more common than we think, we just hardly see them because of their amazing camouflage. Just like mantids, late summer and into fall is the best time to find them because they're adults and are much larger than in the spring and summer. I spotted this guy on my garage door the other day too

 

[TammyJ]

We raised Preying Manti when I was a kid....We would catch an egg bearing female & put her under the net. Thousands of little ones. Mom wasn't a big fan when big sis let a bunch out by accident. They are cool too!

OT saw a vid on Nature of a dozen Hermit crabs gathering on a Caribbean beach...all in a row by size...then all swapping shells by going forward!

The 1st guy found a suitable empty shell...coolest thing I ever saw them do!

Hermit or "Soldier" crabs as we call them here in Jamaica, are absolutely awesome creatures. For years from I was a child, I kept them and studied them, releasing them periodically and getting a new "set". I am gonna look for a picture my son took a few years that will blow your mind. Things are getting tight and rough here for our little soldiers too! Hope you don't mind, Jeff, if I post the crab picture in your Stick insect thread!?

 

[TammyJ]

This is a real and genuine photograph of a hermit crab walking on a beach on Jamaica's South Coast a few years ago, guys. Times they are a changin'!!!

 

[Warren]

This is a real and genuine photograph of a hermit crab walking on a beach on Jamaica's South Coast a few years ago, guys. Times they are a changin'!!!View attachment 361169

What better protection than a 12 gauge shotgun shell, I guess all the tourists are taking the shells on the beach.

 

[TammyJ]

Awesome critters. Id imagine they're much more common than we think, we just hardly see them because of their amazing camouflage. Just like mantids, late summer and into fall is the best time to find them because they're adults and are much larger than in the spring and summer. I spotted this guy on my garage door the other day too
View attachment 361155

Amazing! And I guess they are not really insects, as they only have four legs...! Anyone know what scientific family they belong to?

 

[TammyJ]

What better protection than a 12 gauge shotgun shell, I guess all the tourists are taking the shells on the beach.

Sometimes, but mostly it's the fisher people, who take the whelk shells, break them, and use the snails for bait.

 

[TammyJ]

Amazing! And I guess they are not really insects, as they only have four legs...! Anyone know what scientific family they belong to?

It's the mantis family, DUH!!!!!

 

[jsheffield]

That's funny... this pic came up in my FB memories from 3 years ago... it was almost 9" long, which seems out of character for walking sticks local to NH.

Jamie

 

[Denny1st]

Amazing! And I guess they are not really insects, as they only have four legs...! Anyone know what scientific family they belong to?

Yes they're phasmids, in the order Phasmatode. They are insects, the two legs in front count. They just stretch them out and put them together to resemble a stick. I can't imagine doing that for so long 🤣

Also something that's really interesting - many species of phasmids, including the giant and northern walking sticks in the USA, reproduce through parthenogenesis. The females can lay ova without a male and without mating. So genetically identical clones of the female will hatch! Definitely a bit different than (most,) mantids. Some species of mantids like the brunners mantis in southeast USA is also parthenogenetic though

 

[TammyJ]

Yes they're phasmids, in the order Phasmatode. They are insects, the two legs in front count. They just stretch them out and put them together to resemble a stick. I can't imagine doing that for so long 🤣

Also something that's really interesting - many species of phasmids, including the giant and northern walking sticks in the USA, reproduce through parthenogenesis. The females can lay ova without a male and without mating. So genetically identical clones of the female will hatch! Definitely a bit different than (most,) mantids. Some species of mantids like the brunners mantis in southeast USA is also parthenogenetic though

Can the offspring of parthenogenesis reproduce too? Via any method?

 

[Denny1st]

Can the offspring of parthenogenesis reproduce too? Via any method?

Yes they can! When a male breeds with a female the offspring will have a mix of genes from the mother and father, and the offspring will be a mix of both sexes. However if there are no males around for the females to mate with, well.... life goes on... Genetically Identically. And the offspring too. Nature is crazy cool

 

[Tim Carlisle]

Yes they can! When a male breeds with a female the offspring will have a mix of genes from the mother and father, and the offspring will be a mix of both sexes. However if there are no males around for the females to mate with, well.... life goes on... Genetically Identically. And the offspring too. Nature is crazy cool

Pretty awesome!

 

[Cathie G]

Yes they can! When a male breeds with a female the offspring will have a mix of genes from the mother and father, and the offspring will be a mix of both sexes. However if there are no males around for the females to mate with, well.... life goes on... Genetically Identically. And the offspring too. Nature is crazy cool

Yes amazing 🤗