Ep. 225 - Walking Stick Insects

<p>Last Thursday a call came over the radio at work. “I just want to let everyone know that there are two Walking Sticks mating on the tent”. I can’t really remember what I was doing with the students at the time, but we all dropped everything and made our way, some faster than others. I had seen a couple of Walking Sticks over the Summer, but realized, while jogging through the forest on my way to see these two going at it, that I knew very little about the life cycles, ecology and overall natural history of this species or the order as a whole. I figured I should observe the mating pair carefully, and then research a bunch when I get home.</p> <p>The species native to my area of Southern Ontario, known as the Northern Walking Stick (<em>Diapheromera femorata</em>), has been making many appearances in my life over the past few years but I still know so little about them. Inspired by the most recent sighting mentioned above, I decided to learn a little bit more about them.</p> <p>Big thanks to Jen for letting everyone know the Walking Sticks were there.</p> <p><strong>Resources I pulled from for this episode:</strong><br><em>Insects</em> : <em>Their Natural History and Diversity </em>by Stephan A Marshall. Firefly Books, 2006.<br><a href="https://books.google.ca/books?id=Y34WAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA97&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false" target="_blank"><em>Insect Enemies of Eastern Forests </em>by Frank Cooper Craighead. US Department of Agriculture, 1950.</a><br><em>Princeton Field Guides Insects of North America</em> by John C. Abbott and Kendra K. Abbott. Princeton University Press, 2023.<br><em>The Complete Insect</em> by David A. Grimaldi. Princeton University Press, 2023. (highly recommended!)<br><em>Tracks &amp; Sign of Insects and Other Invertebrates</em> by Charley Eiseman and Noah Charney. Stackpole Books, 2010.</p> <p>and a blog post of my own : <a href="https://www.toknowtheland.com/blog/tracking-journal-for20210815" target="_blank">Tracking Journal for 2021.08.15</a></p>