Walking stick???
Sun, Oct 19, 2008 at 1:07 PM
Is this an insect? I thought that it was a walking stick, but it appears to only have 4 legs.
Matthew Peters
Hohenwald, TN 38462
Northern Walkingstick
Hi Matthew,
This looks like a Northern Walkinstick, Diapheromera femorata. The common name is deceptive since the species ranges throughout much of the eastern US, including the south, and Canada. BugGuide shows the genus represented in Texas, but does not identify it to the species level. BugGuide does report the species from Louisiana The front legs are being held together in front of the body.
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Posted 20 October 2008
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Walking stick species???
We saw this in our back yard today. It has a baby on its back. The bug is wingless and has 6 legs. It looks like some kind of small fat walking stick 
It is certainly adapted for living in trees with its coloring. We live in Southern Ky. (East Bernstadt).’m sending in 2 pics to help you ID it…Can’t wait to find out!! Thanks…this is a really cool site by the way
Ed and daughter Scarlett
Souther, Ky
Mating Walkingsticks
Hi Ed and Scarlett,
Your insects are mating Walkingsticks. We thought they might be Muskmares, but we also thought you were too far north for this species. We believe this is a closely related species in the same genus, Anisomorpha ferruginea, which we located on Bugguide.
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Posted 25 September 2008
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Tagged: bug love
costa rica critters
hey bugman,
I just wrote you with some photos of jumping spiders from toronto. I remembered that I had some photos from costa rica to share with you. I just got into your site and would like to add any way I can. attached are some of the finds that I had. the first is a walking stick that looked like moss from monte verde, costa rica. the second is a preying mantis I had a photoshoot with. the way she displayed her wings (she?) was pretty cool. that was in la fortuna, costa rica. the third is a whip scorpion I found when we were volunteering in making a soccer field for the local school in playa matapalo, costa rica. I hope these pics can be of help, and I would like to know if I can get the proper names for my little friends.
thanks for the great site!
While we are not certain exactly what your Moss Mimic Walkingstick from Costa Rica is, we are fascinated by it and hope one of our readers can contribute some information.
Update: December 15, 2008
Hello
I would just like to let you know IDs for some of the phasmid (walking
stick) pics you have on your site:
entry 25. September 2008 – this is a nymph (young one) of Trychopeplus
sp. (most probably Trychopeplus laciniatus). They live in mountainuos
neotropical regions up to the could forests – like in Monte Verde.
wishing you all the best
Dr. Bruno Kneubühler (Switzerland)
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Posted 05 August 2008
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Long insect found in Houston
My kids found this in our Garage today. Long body, 6 legs and a black stripe down the back. Can you identify it? We live in NW Houston. Thanks,
Gabriel
hi Gabriel,
This is a Two Striped Walkingstick, Anisomorpha buprestoides, also known as a Muskmare. This is a larger female. Mating pairs are frequently found. Handle the Muskmare with care as it is capable of spraying a noxious substance with amazing accuracy. They inevitably aim for the eyes, and though the noxious substance is an eye irritant, no lasting damage will occur.
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Posted 14 June 2008
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Cool Bug
If you know anything about bugs in Australia we would love to learn what type of critter we have here. At first I thought it was a dead leaf which had blown off of a clump of eucalyptus branches I had just cut for my possums…. until I saw it crawling up the spare possum box on the front verandah! NO idea what it is but I kept a safe distance as the scorpion-style tail looked somewhat threatening! Thanks
Tom
Hi Tom,
This is some species of Phasmid, commonly called Walkingsticks, Stick Insects, or in the case of your specimen, probably a Leaf Insect. We have not had any luck identifying the species. Perhaps our loyal reader Grev, who often comes to our rescue with unknown Australian specimens, will have better luck scouring the internet than we have had. Leaf Insects do not have stingers, and the posture of the tail end is display only.
Update: (04/28/2008) Unknown stick insect from Australia
Hi Daniel,
Extatosoma tiaratum, Spiny Leaf Insect, is a member of the Phasmid family. See: http://miller.emu.id.au/pmiller/books/stick-insects/phasmatodea/phasmatidae/tropidoderinae/extatosoma/index.html … Kind regards,
Grev
Update: (04/28/2008) That Unknown Australian Leaf Insect
Hi Guys,
most likely your stick/leaf insect is Macleays Spectre, Extatosoma tiaratum Here is a reference link with pic http://miller.emu.id.au/pmiller/books/stick-insects/phasmatodea/phasmatidae/tropidoderinae/extatosoma/tiaratum/index.html regards,
Trevor Jinks
Queensland
Edibility Update: (04/29/2008) Australian phasmid: edible!
Hi Daniel,
Hope your semester is wrapping up well. Extatosoma tiaratum is among the walkingsticks and leaf-insects consumed in Papua New Guinea. They’re also a popular display species in the Insectarium world, and among amateur invertebrate-keepers. Best,
Dave
www.slshrimp.com
Anisomorpha photos – are you willing or able to ID to species?
Good Afternoon!!
Wow – what a great insect ID resource! As a result of the information available on your website, I was able to identify, at least to Genus, photos I had taken of a large walkingstick-like insect back in October of 2000. These were taken in Dugger Mountain Wilderness, Shoal Creek Ranger District, National Forests in Alabama (Calhoun County, in North Alabama). It was a single individual, and about 3 inches in length. By moving slowly, and using sweetgum leaves (underside showing in the photo), I was able to get fairly close to get these photos. I suspect I would have been even more circumspect had I realized it could produce a noxious discharge! What I am not positive about is the species. The location (Southern Appalachian ecoregion) would indicate it to be A. ferruginous, but going by photos and size, there is a slight possibility it could be A. buprestoides. Locals refer to it as the Devil’s Riding Horse or Witch’s Horse. So before I label this completely, I wanted to see if you-all would be kind enough to take a shot a the ID. Obviously, since these photos were taken October 17, 2000, I am not in a hurry for any reply. However, due to your postings, I finally have a genus with which to label these photos (other than Big Ugly Bug 1, 2, & 3). Thanks for the great work on your site, and thank you in advance for your time and skills!!
Rhonda Stewart
Botanist/Ecologist
USForest Service
Hi Rhonda,
While we do not have the necessary skill to positively identify your Walkingstick to the species level, we are very intrigued with the two new names you have provided for this fascinating insect. We especially like Witch’s Horse and both names referring to the mating activity.
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Posted 11 October 2007
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Anisomorpha buprestoides
Hi,
I was going to ask for an ID, but I found them in the Insect Love section…Still, I think I have some nice pics! I guess I’m lucky that with all the messing around with them that photographing entailed, she didn’t spray me! They are released into my tortoise pen. I’m in Alachua, Florida. I see these every once in a while.
Nanci
Hi Nanci,
You did a great job of properly identifying your mating Muskmares or Two Striped Walkingsticks. It is also evident that you read that they will spray a noxious, irritant into a person’s eyes with amazing accuracy if they are disturbed. We especially love your choice of a location for your image, the ceramic plate with a sphinx moth underglaze.
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Posted 21 September 2007
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Tagged: bug love
What is this bug?
Found this one in Ocala, Florida. Learned real fast not to touch this one for it let out one heck of a stink!
Curtis
Hi Curtis,
These are mating Muskmares, or more correctly, a Muskmare and her stallion. They are Anisomorpha buprestoides, Two-striped Walkingsticks. The smell you mentioned was the least of your worries. These Walkingsticks can shoot a noxious substance from glands in the “neck” region with amazing accuracy. They have hit more than one of our readers in the eye and the irritation and blurry vision may last for hours.
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Posted 04 September 2007
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Tagged: bug love
Bugs in Papua New Guinea
Hi there,
I was wondering if you new what these bug are? Last year I lived in a small village on the northern side of PNG for 5 months, and took these photos while out and about. Thanks
Tom Honeyman
Hi Tom,
First we have to apologize for the lengthy delay. Your letter was lost in the archive until our new email system revealed your gorgeous photos. Daniel, our generous web host, devised a new email system that would be more efficient. This new system allows us to see images before reading emails, so we can choose the most gorgeous and interesting images. Your photos are stunning, and it took us some time to match them with the email from long ago since the system is effective with new letters, but there was a problem with the archive. The blue beetle is a Weevil in the genus Eupholus. There are quite a few members of this genus in New Guinea, but your photo matches a specimen called Eupholus geoffroyi that we located online on the Papua Insects Foundation. Your other insect is most definitely a Phasmid or Walkingstick. New Guinea has one species, Eurycantha calcarata, known as the Spiny Devil, but it is much more robust than your photo. We found a much closer match on the Papua Insects Foundation phasmid page, but sadly, it was not identified. Perhaps someone will be able to identify this amazing spiny Walkingstick.
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Posted 24 July 2007
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Megaphasma dentricus
found on Schlefflera trunk San Diego May 25 2007 – image has ruler. (Also have extreme macro showing camo details if you want it.) (ever notice how stickbug images tend to be vertical?) There are suddenly a lot of species (common stickbug, others) of these guys around the area – drought stress? Incidentally, we propagate bamboo here but couldn’t spin it into cloth so bought a shirt from Shirts of Bamboo – soft supple hand to the cloth – feels smoother and denser than cotton. Good service, nice people.
Mark Robertson – Ocean Beach CA
Hi Mark,
We post all of our Walkingstick images as verticals since they fit nicely into our site’s format. We do not believe this is the Giant Walkingstick, Megaphasma dentricus. We aren’t entirely convinced it is native since in Los Angeles, many exotic, like the progeny of pets, can exist in our mild climate. As for the population explosion you note, perhaps there was a great escape from the insectarium of one of your neighbors. Perhaps one of our readers will properly identify your species. Glad you enjoyed the shirt you got from our generous bandwidth sponsors, Lisa and Daniel, who coincidentally share names with the staff of What’s That Bug? Here is Eric’s response: “Daniel: Saw the walkingstick already identified, so I figured I was off the hook! Ha! I would not venture a guess. Females (which that specimen is) are much harder to identify than males. I’d definitely contact someone at UC Riverside, or the ARS of the USDA, to make sure this is not something exotic. Does the person still have the specimen? Eric”
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Posted 04 June 2007
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Hi
I am an American living in Japan. I recently spent some time in Queensland, Australia and took this photo of a spiny leaf insect. This was the most spectacular insect I’ve ever seen.
Melody McFarland
Hi Melody,
Thanks for sending us your great image of a Spiny Leaf Insect, Extatasoma tiaratum. This is a type of Walking Stick.
ok this is the first time i ever seen a spider looking thing poised like this. i found this on our swingset a few days ago. it didnt budge when i touched it. i expected for it to scurry away cause it looked like a spider to me. just a thing a spider would do when u try to touch em. thanks!
dogafin, from FL
Hi Dogafin,
This is a Two-Striped Walkingstick, Anisomorpha buprestoides, also known as a Muskmare. The Muskmare is capable of spraying a noxious substance with incredible accuracy, and we get numerous reports of people and their pets being sprayed in the eye.
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Posted 02 March 2007
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