''Tropidoderus childrenii'', the Children's stick insect, was first described in 1833 by Gray.

Description

These relatively large stick insects generally measure about in length and are native to Eastern Australia.Phasmid Study Group: ''Tropidoderus childrenii''
/ref> Generally, the female insect is a medium green color and closely resembles leaves, thus making it difficult to spot in the foliage. A large, dark blue spot can be found on each

hindwing Insect wings are adult outgrowths of the insect exoskeleton that enable insects to fly. They are found on the second and third thoracic segments (the mesothorax and metathorax), and the two pairs are often referred to as the forewings and hindwi ...

at the base of the remigium and anal lobe. This dark spot is usually hidden when the wings are folded down. The nymphs also have a long yellow strip that runs down the center of their bodies, which exactly matches the color of the leaf vein. The males can look very different, usually more slender and reddish-brown in color.

Life cycle

During

adult An adult is a human or other animal that has reached full growth. In human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and legal concepts. In contrast to a " minor", a legal adult is a person who has attained the age of major ...

hood the Children's stick insect

mates Mates is an English surname, and may refer to: * Mates (born 1964), British newsreader and journalist * Michael Mates (born 1934), British politician * Frederick S. Mates, founded the Mates Investment Fund in 1967 that crashed in the bear market o ...

more than once and

females Female (symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gametes than a male. Females a ...

lays

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

its whole life as an adult. The males fly between trees in search for the females to mate with. The females are much larger and heavier than the males and tend to not fly very far or very often. Once they mate, the females will lay the small, oval, gray eggs that will drop to the leaf litter. Laying the eggs in winter, the eggs will hatch in autumn.

Habitat

They usually live in areas where

eucalyptus trees ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including ''Corymbia'', they are commonly known as eucal ...

are prominent, as their main source of food is the leaves of various gum or eucalyptus trees.

Defense

When disturbed, the Children's stick insect will detach its hind legs from the foliage and repeatedly strike them together. Additionally, it will flap its hindwings up and down, flashing the dark blue splotches hidden underneath. It has been shown in

mantid Mantidae is one of the largest families in the order of praying mantises, based on the type species ''Mantis religiosa''; however, most genera are tropical or subtropical. Historically, this was the only family in the order, and many reference ...

species that actions like these described can startle and deter predators such as lizards and so it is believed this is the case in the stick insect as well. Furthermore, the Children's stick insect has the ability to drop a limb in order to escape a predator, similar to how lizards can drop their tail.

References

External links