I found this little critter on my door this morning. It reminded me of a cross between a spider and a Praying Mantis, but wasn’t either. Thanks to the miracles of Google, it took only a few minutes for me to discover that it is from the order of Phasmida, otherwise known as stick-insect, walking sticks or stick bugs.
There are lots of interesting things about Stick-Bugs and I highly recommend a more thorough reading of the subject here … you will learn about their Anatomy (Phasmids have an impressive visual system that allow them to perceive significant detail even in dim conditions, which suits their typically nocturnal lifestyle), about their Defense Mechanisms (Phasmatodea species exhibit mechanisms for defense from predators that both prevent an attack from happening in the first place (primary defense) and are deployed after an attack has been initiated (secondary defense)), their Life Cycle (Many species of phasmids are parthenogenic, meaning the females lay eggs without needing to mate with males to produce offspring.), their Behaviour (Stick insects, like praying mantises, show rocking behavior in which the insect makes rhythmic, repetitive, side-to-side movements. Mating behavior in Phasmatodea is impressive because of the extraordinarily long duration of pairings) and finally, Stick-Insects as Pets (Almost 300 species have been reared in laboratories or as pets)
It was great to learn new things about my environment before breakfast.
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