ENY 3005 Family Identification

Phasmida: Pseudophasmatidae

Common name: striped walkingstick

Large female and smaller male of the striped walkingstick, Anisomorpha sp.

Identifying characteristics for the family Pseudophasmatidae include:

• Mesothorax never more than 3 times the length of the prothorax; other families in the eastern U.S. have the middle thoracic segment at least 4 times the length of the first.
• Conspicuous black stripes running the length of the body.
• Tarsi 5 segmented.
• Middle and hind tibiae deeply emarginate apically.

• The striped walkingstick is a common walkingstick in Florida. Nymphs feed on leaves in the tops of trees and are rarely observed. Copulating adults are the stage most frequently collected and occur from late summer into the fall.
• Walkingsticks can squirt an odorous milky substance from glands in the thorax. Handle with care to avoid being sprayed in the eyes.

References:

• Page 86 in D. J. Borror and R. E. White. 1970. A Field Guide to the Insects. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
• Page 206 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.
• Pages 101-102 in R. G. Bland and H. E. Jaques. 1978. How to Know the Insects, 3rd ed. Debuque, Iowa: Wm. C. Brown Co. 409 p.
• Page 398 in H. V. Daly, J. T. Doyen, and A. H. Purcell III. 1998. Introduction to Insect Biology and Diversity, 2nd ed. Oxford University Press. 680 p.