ENY 3005 Families of Phasmida

Order Phasmida

 Common name: walkingstick

Diapheromera femorata (Say), Phasmida, Heteronemiidae

Identifying characteristics for the order Phasmida include:

• Slender, long-bodied insects, adults of some tropical species being up to 300 mm in length.
• Antennae long and slender; mouthparts chewing.
• North American species usually wingless.

• Alternative names for this order include Phasmatida, Phasmatoptera, Phasmatodea, and Cheleutoptera.
• There are about 30 species in 4 families occurring in North America. There are over 2000 species worldwide, the majority occurring in the tropics.

Classification of the Phasmida

• Family Timemidae -- timema walkingsticks
   - Ten North American species are found in California, Nevada, and Arizona.
• Family Pseudophasmatidae -- striped walkingsticks
• Family Heteronemiidae -- common walkingsticks (pictured above)
• Family Phasmatidae -- winged walkingsticks
   - The one North American species, Aplopus mayeri, occurs only in southern Florida. Adults are winged and the head has two stout spines on the vertex. Nymphs and adults feed on bay cedar and other shore vegetation.

• U Delaware Insect Database. Provides a picture and brief information on the etymology, pronunciation, identification, and biology of the orders of insects.
• Phasmida Stick-Insects -- Gordon's Insect World
• Phasmid Study Group
• The Phasmida
• Phasmids - Mark Watson's Stick Insect Page
• Phasmatodea
• Phasmidida thumbnail page - Penn State picture gallery.
• Forest Service leaflet about Diapheromera femorata

• Page 86 in D. J. Borror and R. E. White. 1970. A Field Guide to the Insects. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
• Pages 101-102 in R. G. Bland and H. E. Jaques. 1978. How to Know the Insects, 3rd ed. Dubuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown Co. 409 p.
• Pages 205-207 in D. J. Borror, C. A. Triplehorn, and N. F. Johnson. 1989. An Introduction to the Study of Insects, 6th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders College Publishing. 875 p.