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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Walkingsticks (Phasmida) » Striped Walkingsticks (Pseudophasmatidae) » Anisomorpha » Northern Two-striped Walkingstick (Anisomorpha ferruginea)
Photo#553174
Northern two-stripe walkingstick - Anisomorpha ferruginea - male - female
Copyright © 2011 Paul Lenhart

Northern two-stripe walkingstick - Anisomorpha ferruginea - Male Female
Lick Creek Park, Brazos County, Texas, USA
April 30, 2011
Size: 5 cm females
These walkingsticks were found aggregated under a log which is common in this genus. This genus is in need of revision and the species limits are unclear. As is stands these would probably be considered A. ferruginea because of the size. As is evident, the stripes are highly variable.

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Northern two-stripe walkingstick - Anisomorpha ferruginea - male - female Northern two-stripe walkingstick - Anisomorpha ferruginea - male - female
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Contributed by Paul Lenhart on 27 July, 2011 - 10:59pm

At first I thought this had a long curled abdomen & eight legs!
Then I thought maybe the "4th pair of legs" were actually a strangely shrunken set of vestigial wings.

Finally it occurred to me that an immature was riding on an adults back.

(Did I get that right? Ahh, the pleasures of seeing the world through Mr. Mugu eyes :-)
… Aaron Schusteff, 19 June, 2012 - 12:57pm login or register to post comments

 
mating
Actually that is a small male. In this species the male is very small compared to the female and spends most of his time riding on the back of the female, even when he's not mating with her.
… Paul Lenhart, 19 June, 2012 - 1:14pm login or register to post comments

 
Ahh...now I get it! :-)
I can see the tip of the small male's abdomen bent forward and in contact with the large females abdomen, a bit anterad of its tip. (Whenever I learn something like this I ask myself..."How did I miss that!! But the initial mis-understanding/awe make it all the more rich :-)

Interesting that the males spend most their time riding on the back of the female, even when not mating. Wonder if that occurs often among walking sticks, and what the functional repercussions and evolutionary aspects of that might be?
… Aaron Schusteff, 19 June, 2012 - 1:50pm login or register to post comments

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