Northern Walkingstick

Diapheromera femorata — the northern walkingstick — is the most widespread walking stick (order Phasmatodea) in North America and one of the most striking examples of TWIG MIMICRY in NA insect biology. The species is widespread across all of eastern and central North America from southern Canada south through the eastern US to northern Florida and west to the Great Plains. Adults are 7-9 cm body length, wingless, slender, and shaped exactly like a small twig — the body is a long thin cylinder with very long thin legs that extend out at angles like small twig branches. Coloration is brown to greenish-brown to gray, often with subtle longitudinal striping that further enhances the twig-bark resemblance. Females are slightly larger and stouter than males. The species is the major NA representative of order Phasmatodea (the stick and leaf insects) — an ancient lineage with over 3000 species worldwide that contains the longest insects on Earth (Phryganistria chinensis 'Chan's megastick' of southern China and Borneo at 357 mm body length is the longest insect ever measured). Walking sticks have evolved one of the most extreme MORPHOLOGICAL CRYPSIS strategies in the animal kingdom: not only are they shaped like twigs and colored like twig bark, they MOVE LIKE TWIGS BLOWING IN A LIGHT BREEZE — when walking sticks are disturbed (or when they want to move slowly without attracting predator attention), they sway gently from side to side in time with the natural movement of twigs in light air, making them essentially invisible against background vegetation in motion. Walking sticks also exhibit thanatosis (death-feigning) — when seriously disturbed, they freeze in place and may drop from the branch, lying motionless on the ground in a stiff twig posture for several minutes before resuming activity. The species is one of several Phasmatodea that can perform PARTHENOGENESIS — females can produce viable offspring without mating, with the resulting eggs developing into all-female clones of the mother. Eggs are deposited individually onto the ground (the female 'flicks' eggs from the abdomen tip onto the leaf litter) and look exactly like small plant seeds — leaf litter contains thousands of walking stick eggs that are essentially indistinguishable from real seeds. Larvae feed on a wide range of deciduous tree leaves (especially oak, basswood, hickory, and wild cherry). The species is harmless to humans (no venom, no sting, no biting strength) and one of the most-photographed walking sticks in North American macro nature photography.