Ep. 225 : Walking Stick Insects

Last Thursday a call came over the radio at work. “I just want to let everyone know that there are two Walking Sticks mating on the tent”. I can’t really remember what I was doing with the students at the time, but we all dropped everything and made our way, some faster than others. I had seen a couple of Walking Sticks over the Summer, but realized, while jogging through the forest on my way to see these two going at it, that I knew very little about the life cycles, ecology and overall natural history of this species or the order as a whole. I figured I should observe the mating pair carefully, and then research a bunch when I get home.

The species native to my area of Southern Ontario, known as the Northern Walking Stick (Diapheromera femorata), has been making many appearances in my life over the past few years but I still know so little about them. Inspired by the most recent sighting mentioned above, I decided to learn a little bit more about them.

Big thanks to Jen for letting everyone know the Walking Sticks were there.

Resources I pulled from for this episode:
Insects : Their Natural History and Diversity by Stephan A Marshall. Firefly Books, 2006.
Insect Enemies of Eastern Forests by Frank Cooper Craighead. US Department of Agriculture, 1950.
Princeton Field Guides Insects of North America by John C. Abbott and Kendra K. Abbott. Princeton University Press, 2023.
The Complete Insect by David A. Grimaldi. Princeton University Press, 2023. (highly recommended!)
Tracks & Sign of Insects and Other Invertebrates by Charley Eiseman and Noah Charney. Stackpole Books, 2010.

and a blog post of my own : Tracking Journal for 2021.08.15