Stick Insect Surprise

Stick insects are so beautifully camouflaged in the garden or the bush, so when one appears off its normal tree, it causes a bit of a surprise.

This one hitched a ride on someone's arm!



Here's the stick insect Ned illustrated in 'In the Garden', on page 15, hiding in the manuka.

Another place to find information about stick insects written for a general audience is Te Ara: The Encyclopaedia of New Zealand.

There is scientific information about stick insects as well as lots of photos on the Landcare Research website. One thing I learned from this site is most stick insects are female, with some populations having only females, who reproduce without the help of males, called parthenogenesis.