Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

Species Diapheromera femorata - Northern Walkingstick

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Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Phasmida (Walkingsticks)
Family Diapheromeridae
Genus Diapheromera
Species femorata (Northern Walkingstick)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Diapheromera femorata (Say, 1824)
Size
Body only: male 75mm (3in.), female 95mm (3 3/4in.)
Identification
Very elongated, wingless. Male brown, female greenish brown. Antennae 2/3 length of body.
Cerci with one segment, often resembling palps at the tip of the abdomen.
Range
Atlantic coast to northern Florida, west to New Mexico, north to Alberta
Habitat
Deciduous woods and forests
Food
Foliage of deciduous trees and shrubs, especially oaks and hazelnuts.

Nymphs initially feed on shrubs such as sweet fern, blueberry, strawberry, and juneberry. Later they feed on the same trees as adults. (1)
Life Cycle
Females drop eggs singly on to the forest floor. Eggs overwinter in leaf litter hatch in the spring. Nymphs become adults during the summer and fall.

In the South eggs hatch the following year; in the North they hatch the 2nd spring (1)
Remarks
This species is native to the US and Canada. It is the most common species of Phasmid in North America.
When very numerous, they can severely defoliate trees.
Print References
Arment, pp. 21-23 (see also "Early Studies") (2)
Helfer, p. 23 (3)
Milne, page 446 (4)
Works Cited
1.Eastern Forest Insects
Whiteford L. Baker. 1972. U.S. Department of Agriculture · Forest Service.
2.Stick Insects of the Continental United States and Canada
Chad Arment. 2006. Coachwhip Publications.
3.How to Know the Grasshoppers, Cockroaches, and Their Allies
Jacques R. Helfer. 1962. Wm. C. Brown Company.
4.National Audubon Society Field Guide to Insects and Spiders
Lorus and Margery Milne. 1980. Knopf.