Subject: Mystery
Location: Manaus-Amazonas- Brazil
July 24, 2012 9:44 am
Hello,
Yesterday night appeared this strange creature of 7-8 cm long, probably coming from the forest. It had a big ant riding it like a horse, which didn´t fall down nor left it even going up and down on the wall. It seems to have wings, but didn´t use it. Do you konw what it is ?
Thank you,
Signature: Isabelle
Hi Isabelle,
This is a Walkingstick or Stick Insect in the order Phasmida. They are masters of camouflage when they rest motionless on shrubbery.
Ed. Note: Thanks to a comment from Bruno, this Phasmid has been identified as being in the genus Prisopus, and interestingly, we confirmed that with a photo of a Phasmid from Mexico in our own archive that was identified by Piotr Naskrecki.
and adult female of a Prisopus species
Thanks for the assistance. We found another member of the genus Prisopus in our archive.
I have found one of this insect at Serra da Cantareira, a forest very close to São Paulo City! Congrats for your explanation!