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Monday, August 27, 2012

Garden Visitors: Megaphasma denticrus

"Everything is bigger in Texas" applies to insects as well.

This native Texas Giant Walkingstick (Megaphasma denticrus) is quite appropriately the longest insect in the US.  These walkingsticks can grow to 7" (177 mm)  though the body on this one is just over 4" (101 mm).  This one is most likely a young male according to my research, and just one in 1,000 is male.


He turned up recently on the back of a chair on the deck and probably climbed up the brown chair looking for oak leaves to eat.  His body looks like a small bamboo twig.  The left front leg appears almost like another antenna because it is extended outward in an apparent attempt to determine the next move.   Our Texas giant walkingstick is not poisonous, but there are others around the world that are and some have found their way here so be cautious if you see one.


 This one was gently coaxed onto a piece of scrap wood




And then relocated to the woods behind the house since he's not likely to strip the leaves off all those oak trees back there.




There have been a lot of sightings of these insects reported this year in the Texas hill country.  An article in the local paper suggests this may be the result of fewer residents using insecticides on their lawns due to the drought.  While the drought of 2011 was disatrous, some creatures actually benefitted.

9 comments:

  1. Shirley, these are great shots of your handsome Walkingstick. I love these guys and find them so interesting. I haven't seen very many this year, only one and it was in a pond, dead. I find them fascinating though, thank for the post.

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  2. Nice pics, love the greenish colour. Must be one of the more bizarre insects. LT

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  3. What a cool garden visitor; he's beautiful!

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  4. Nice of him to pose for you. I have only seen one walking stick in all my gardening days. Of course the whole point of the design is camouflage, so I guess it's no wonder.

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  5. What an interesting post. Pesticides are bad, we all know that....so it's nice to know that you had a rare wonderful visit from a male. They remind me of the Ents from the Lord of the Rings. Your shots are awesome.....love the close ups and background info. I've never seen them before so it's a treat to learn something new.

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  6. Insects are pretty cool. I have praying mantis in my garden but I have not seen a walking stick this year.

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  7. Hey Shirley ! Not just the hill country...we've had many of them here in my yard this year. The largest, at 8 inches, are female. They look really cool. Unfortunately, my dogs have thought they looked tasty and I lost a few of them to curiosity.

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  8. How cool!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait to show my kids your pictures - GREAT shots. Wouldn't it be great if people CONTINUED to use less insecticides!!??

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  9. What a wonderful creature. (giggled when I read Patty's dogs ate them) No pesticides permitted here now and we've found all sorts of butterflies, and oddball insects we've never seen before. So glad to hear about the Oak trees - with any luck you'll get enough rain for the next few years so they can completely recover.
    B

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