Two-Striped Walking Stick Anisomorpha buprestoides

These psuedophasmatids, shown here in flagrante delicto on the doorjamb of the Twisty Escape Hatch, are wide loads as far as stick bugs go (compare D. femorata). The pair will maintain the hook-up for several days. The female, at about three inches long excluding extremities, and her clingy associate, made an imposing and lurid spectre. Three inches may not sound like much, but try stumbling unexpectedly across a mating pair of these babies as you saunter fecklessly through your compound, and see if you don't let out a startled yelp. They take up a lot of psychological space.

Various reports, culminating in a web meme that merited a Snopes entry, indicate that they are capable of squirting, or spraying, an "odiferous secretion" which can irritate the eyes or cause blindness, depending on who you believe. Yowsa!

Photo August 2004