Walking Stick Diapheromera femorata, August 2004

Above left : This morning when I chipped the granite out of my eyes, this is what I saw lurking on the window screen mere inches from my head. This bug, I don't mind telling you, impressed me at that early hour by being nearly 6 inches long. That's some bug.

Right: The head. The foremost pair of legs is commonly held aloft like antennae.

I had heard of these walking sticks, but had never seen one before. This is because as I saunter through the day with my usual insouciance, I seldom bother to distinguish between twigs and bugs that look exactly like twigs. Because the benefits of looking exactly like a twig are null and void if you're going to hang around on people's bedroom screens, I believe this specimen was exercising extremely poor judgement. But I didn't say anything. Live and let live, that's my motto. I snapped my bug-porn and was on my way, happy to let natural selection run its course.

This is the Basic Walking Stick. It's no slouch, but here in Texas there is apparently an even more giant model, Megaphasma dentricus, the longest bug in the whole USA.