(Describer) Titles: The Bug Chicks, and Solpugid Productions, in association with Texas A and M University. Insects and Human Society. In front of bushes...

There are some insects that can be right in front of your face, and you wouldn't even know it. They're in the trees. They are the trees. Walking sticks.

(Describer) Jessica steps away. In the bushes, Kristie opens her eyes, wearing camouflage makeup. Different insects are shown: including a small green one with wings, hundreds of tiny ones swarming a worm, one with transparent wings climbing a tree, a thin green one looking around, two with translucent white wings, and one crawling on a green leaf before flying off. Titles: The Insect Orders.

[Morgantj plays "Cafe Connection"]

♪

(Describer) Order Phasmatodea : Walking Sticks. Taxonomy.

Walking sticks and leaf insects are in the order Phasmatodea. It comes from the Greek "phasm," meaning ghost or phantom. And by ghost, we mean invisible. These ghosts are masters of camouflage, but it's not just their color that helps them to hide. They do it through morphology and behavior.

(Describer) Title: Morphology.

They're called stick and leaf insects for a reason. Most species are long, and slender, and look like the twigs and branches they live on. And some leaf insects even have little indentations along their wings that look like an insect has been munching on them, complete with browning around the edges. Some tropical species have wings, like this one, but the ones in the U.S. have reduced or absent wings. Now, they don't use these wings to fly necessarily. Some do, but they're not great fliers. They use them for defense. They'll flash open their wings to startle their predators. It's called a startle defense. But walking sticks have lots of other defensive tactics that they use as well. Some species will actually spray a defensive chemical out of glands on their thorax and abdomen. In Australia, there's a species that sprays peppermint oil, so it's like being spit on by someone who's just eaten a wintergreen Life Saver.

[groans] ugh

And some walking sticks will literally lose their limbs if they're touched. They regenerate with the next molt, so don't worry.

(describer) Title: Biodiversity & Distribution.

(Describer) Title: Biodiversity and Distribution.

There are 2,700 species of phasmids worldwide but only 32 here in North America. And one of the most endangered insects in the world is the Lord Howe Island walking stick. They were thought to be extinct, but in 2001 researchers found 20 of them clinging to a bush on this tiny island off the coast of Australia. As with most insects, the more tropical the climate, the larger they can get. In fact, just recently, the longest insect in the world was discovered in Borneo, and it measures 35.7 centimeters long.

(Describer) She pulls out a tape measure.

That is longer than your face, dude.

(Describer) Title: Biology and Life History.

Walking sticks are nocturnal herbivores. This means they are nighttime plant eaters. And, man, can they eat. Phasmids hold very, very still during the day and are practically indistinguishable from the plant. They even shake like the plant if the breeze blows and shake when they walk to get from place to place. It's called behavioral camouflage. Kristie will demonstrate.

(Describer) She walks slowly, stopping at times to shake her stiff bent arms and legs.

[panting] I'm a stick, I'm a stick,

I'm a stick, I'm a stick, I'm a stick, I'm a stick.

(Describer) Title: Metamorphosis.

Walking sticks go through simple, gradual metamorphosis, which means they go from egg, to immature, to adult. And most immature walking sticks look like tiny, little twigs.

(Describer) Title: Human Impact.

Phasmids are rarely problematic in temperate areas, but they can be a major defoliator of forests and ornamental trees in tropical climates.

(Describer) Title: Collecting.

Net them.

(Describer) She uses one with a handle.

Be careful, though, because they drop their legs when startled. They also have a defense mechanism called thanatosis, where they play dead. So when you look in your net, make sure it's a natural stick insect that you have and not just a stick.

(Describer) Title: Mythology and Culture.

There's not a lot of mythology surrounding these creatures, possibly because they're so difficult to find, but we have found out a few cool facts for you. The Maori tribe of New Zealand believe that if a walking stick lights on a woman, it means she's pregnant. And in West Indies folklore, God rides around on a giant walking stick, and that's earned this insect the nickname of "God-Horse." Now, there's a species in the genus Uracanthus that has really sharp spines on its back legs. And we learned that there's a tribe in New Guinea that uses them as fish hooks.

(Describer) By the bushes again...

Well, that's a wrap. Kris, time to go.

(Describer) Jessica looks around.

Kristie? Oh. Maybe she's already left.

(Describer) Jessica walks away again and camouflaged Kristie opens her eyes again and smiles.

♪

(Describer) Titles: Written and Produced by Kristie Reddick, Jessica Honaker Videographers: Kristie Reddick, Jessica Honaker All photos, video and illustrations copyright Solpugid Productions and The Bug Chicks unless otherwise attributed Accessibility provided by the US Department of Education.