July 31, 2025

A Northern Walkingstick (Diapheromera femorata), an enchanting insect that makes me think of dinosaurs. They are Stick Insects in the order Phasmatodea, and Stick Insects have been around for at least 162 million years. These insects that like to pretend they are sticks have an average length of 3 inches for males and 3.7 inches for females.

The Northern Walkingstick has a way of getting its eggs and larvae taken care of in much the same way some plants get Ants to take care of their seeds. These plants have seeds with an attachment, called an elaiosome, that is extremely nutritious and tasty. Ants gather these seeds and bring them to their nests, feeding their larvae the elaiosomes and discarding the remaining seeds to their trash room which is a perfect place for seeds to start growing.

These plants are myrmecophiles (organisms that count on ants for help in some part of their life). And Walking Sticks become myrmecophiles as the female drops her eggs from high up in trees into the leaf litter on the forest floor. Her eggs have an outside attachment (remember the elaiosome?) called a capitulum, which like the elaiosome is extremely nutritious and tasty. Ants eagerly gather these eggs and bring them to their nests, feeding their larvae the capitulum and discarding the remaining eggs to their trash room which is a perfect place for the eggs to hatch and the resulting larvae to start growing.

Isn’t nature remarkable?

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