Here is an insect that will charm a child. The disguise is so familiar, so perfect, that when it first moves a leg or antenna, you will hear squeals of astonishment and delight. Something that was obviously a plant has become, in a magical instant, an animal!

Disguise is not the only miracle of this peculiar being. Alone among insects, it can replace a torn-off leg by re-molting. Though it may find a mate quickly and casually, the two will know each other pretty well before they separateócopulation can take two whole days! The male is equipped with claspers for this marathonóthey look like a small ring attached at his rear end. You would think such exhausting amore would be pretty important to both partners, but it is not. If no males are around at the right time, the female jettisons unfertilized eggs, that will become more females.

No mother in the animal kingdom is so careless with her offspringóthe eggs are dropped without ceremony, and fall to the ground wherever they happen to fall. If the trees are infested with walkingsticks, the eggs descend in such numbers that it literally sounds like rain.

Our common walkingstick is one of thousands of similar wingless insects called phasmids, this one ranging as far north as the deciduous leaves (especially oak) on which it feeds. If you have the chance to introduce children to this interesting animal, use the ëteachable momentí to model respect and gentlenessóalmost any human handling will injure this delicate, harmless, vegetarian insect. Provide a leaf for the walkingstick to climb on, then you can carry the leaf rather than the insect. Your children will learn a valuable lesson about the sanctity of life.

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Forest Lake Times
P.O. Box 218
880 SW 15 St.
Forest Lake, MN 55025
651-464-4601
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