Common walkingstick

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Common walkingstick

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Phasmatodea
Family:	Heteronemiidae
Genus:	Diapheromera
Species:	D. femorata

Binomial name

Diapheromera femorata
(Say, 1824)

The common walkingstick, Diapheromera femorata, is a phasmid found across North America.

[edit] Animal Description

The hardy Northern Walking Stick can make an interesting pet for people that are able to supply it with food. These insects, with their incredible camouflage, can make quiet and docile, not to mention fascinating, pets. Stick insects are also known as phasmids. The word phasmid comes from the order Phasmatodea.

In the wild, Northern Walking Sticks are most commonly found on vegetation. They usually live on the plants that they eat. Northern Walking Sticks should have a stick that they can hang from during molting. In captivity, their enclosures should be decorated with plenty of sticks or plants to climb or feed on. The enclosure should have a secure lid, since Northern Walking Sticks have amazing climbing abilities. Because Northern Walking Sticks are rather docile vegetarians, they can be kept in groups or with other insects, so long as the other insects do not attack them. To defend itself, the Northern Walking Stick will secrete a foul smelling substance when it feels threatened.

By maturity, most Northern Walking Sticks grow to between three and four inches long. They are very slender and from a distance look just like twigs. They are very well camouflaged and it can be very difficult to distinguish a Northern Walking Stick from the plant it is resting on. At maturity, females often have a glossy, hard appearance like polished wood. Many are yellowish green, although some are shaded with tan or pink hints. When a Northern Walking Stick is injured, it can usually regenerate a limb or heal its injury by the time it molts again.

Northern Walking Sticks are native to North America, inhabiting areas of the United States and Canada. They are one of the few non-tropical species of Walking Stick and can be collected from the wild in North America to be kept captive, with no legal repercussions.