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Vol. LII. LONDON. NOVEMBER, 1920. No. 9 



POPULAR AND PRACTICAL ENTOMOLOGY. 



Walking Sticks. 



by c. b. hutchings, 

 Division of Forest Insects, Entomological Branch, Ottawa. 



Walking Sticks belong to the Order of Orthoptera and are classed under the 

 family Phasmidae, the members of which present a great variety of form. It 

 may be said without exaggeration that the Phasmids exhibit some of the most 

 peculiar, curious objects to be found anywhere in natural history. Among this 

 strange group of insects are those that resemble leaves of trees, lichen-covered 

 bark, stems of grasses and sticks; and so faithfully are these protective character- 

 istics portrayed that an observer may readily be deceived by them even when 

 actually aware of the presence of the insect. It may be worthy of passing 

 notice to mention here that to the Phasmids belong some of the largest insects 

 known. In the Tropics, where both sexes' develop wings they attain their 

 greatest size, six inches being a common length. 



The particular species to which this paper refers is popularly known by a 

 variety of names such as "stick insect," "stick bug," "specter," "prairie alliga- 

 tor," "devil's horse," "devil's darning needle," etc ; the correct name, however, 

 is the thick-thighed walking stick, an appropriate one given by reason of the 

 remarkably dilated femora. 



It was during the summer of 1918, while engaged on an oak-borer problem 

 in Queen's Park, Aylmer, Que., ten miles northwest of Ottawa City, that the 

 writer came upon a number of thick-thighed walking sticks, {Diapheromera 

 femorata Say), defoliating oak, basswood and hazel. Several specimens were 

 collected for the purpose of making a closer study of the life-history of these 

 extraordinary insects and of obtaining notes on egg records, feeding, general 

 habits and other biologic data. Observations were continued during 1919, and 

 the results of the two seasons work are briefly recorded in this paper. 



Ecology. The particular locality where most of the collecting was done 

 was in a thickly wooded lot covered with a mixed growth, for the most part red 

 oaks, but also containing a considerable proportion of maple, ash, basswood, 

 hazel, hickory, ironwobd, beech, elm, service-berry and large numbers of sumach 

 and hawthorn. Here small, green, young nymphs of the walking stick were often 

 to be found during June wandering about on the ground over dead leaves and 

 mosses, trying to locate some convenient twig or trunk of a suitable host plant 

 to crawl upon ; or, what was more frequent, would be seen on the trunks of the 

 oaks, awkwardly and lazily plodding their way upwards over the roughened 

 bark to the tender, green leaves above, where not only abundant food awaited 

 them, but also excellent protection from enemies was afforded by means of their 

 deceptive colouration. Searching carefully under the large basswood leaves, and 

 by moving quietly among the under growth many specimens of half-grown nymphs 



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