Two-striped Walkingstick
Everyone give an extra special InsectPOD welcome to Kristie Belding, who sent in this picture of stick bugs that are… ahem… racing. You knew that, right? They’re racing. If you leaned in real close to the small male on top, he’d say “Oh yeah, you wouldn’t believe what this baby will do in the quarter mile.”
Walkingsticks are a bit like earwigs in that they’re not related to anything besides each other. You go up from Order Phasmatodea, the walkingsticks, and bam! You’re at Class Insecta.
This pair are Anisomorpha buprestoides, or two-striped walkingsticks. I arrive confidently at this identification because there are only two species of walkingstick in North America, and Anisomorpha buprestoides is the one that has stripes. Oh, and it’s also the one that occurs in Texas, and I happen to know Kristie lives in Houston.
Thanks, Kristie!
Slowly getting the site back onto an even keel. It's nice to get back into the old posting rhythm.
Aaron Wadley said,
August 18, 2008 @ 9:30 am
Must…resist…juvenile…humor…
And like most males, he’s only good for the quarter-mile, forget about a full mile or even a marathon.
Couldn’t resist, sorry 8-D
tceisele said,
August 18, 2008 @ 9:39 am
Actually, it sounds like he’s in this for the long haul. On Bug Guide, most of the pictures of this species of walkingstick include both a male and a female. One of the commenters had as a throwaway line that this was because the male hunts down a female, climbs aboard, latches on, and then never lets go again except in emergencies! I guess that’s one way to deal with the fact that she’s so well camoflaged that he might otherwise never be quite sure whether he’s mating with her, or with a stick.
David Brady said,
August 18, 2008 @ 10:14 am
@tceisele: LOL! I have another reader-submitted picture coming up soon that solidly drives home that theory.
And yeah, I wonder if that’s what they think. “In a couple of weeks, if this stick lays eggs, I’ll be a proud father. If not, and it turns out I’ve been romancing a birch twig all this time, I am going to be highly embarrassed.”
wright said,
August 18, 2008 @ 11:05 pm
Welcome, Kristie!