Okay, how random is this... a post about stick bugs.I've seen a couple of pairs lately and decided to look up some info on these strange critters.
Did you know that....
Only 1 in 1000 stick bugs are male (try picking up a guy with those odds)
The walking stick is the longest of all the modern insects (this female was about 9" long)
Males (at least the species that live here in Fla) are always much smaller than the females. (wouldn't it be nice to be "expected" to be larger than your mate?)
When mating they may remain coupled for several hours, days or even weeks (yikes)
Lacking a partner, a female walking stick can still lay fertile eggs, although all will yield female larvae. (and this would be a problem because???)
If threatened they can spray (quite accurately) a milky kind of acidic compound, hitting the face (or eyes) of a perceived predator, including humans or pets, from one to two feet away. The compound causes intense burning and even temporary blindness should it strike the eye. (I can think of a few times where that defense could have come in quite handy!)
Of course now that I know this, I probably shouldn't have gotten close enough to take this picture but I guess they were too busy to notice me.Actually later the same day I spotted another pair on the outside of our pool screen. Guess it's mating season for stick bugs.
Now don't say I never taught you anything!
7 comments:
Barb,
You make me laugh! The post title caught me right away. This is too funny! I certainly learned a lot about stick sex from reading! Lol! Thanks!
Maybe your house just exudes a certain essence in which stick bugs succomb to their carnal desires. You could get quite a reputation if you aren't careful.
*smiles* I find all animals (including insects) very interesting--thanks for sharing this bit of knowledge about stick bugs. :)
Several years ago, we were sitting on our 21st floor balcony here in Chi-town, and one of those suckers--a really big one--came flying at us. I screamed and ran in the apartment--I hate bugs. :) Iwanski, on the other hand, instictively tried to catch it, thinking it looked like a baseball coming at us...yep, on the 21st floor. *hee hee*
Wow. I got a little education lesson this morning on stink bugs! Thank you friend. And thank you so much for your sweet blog comment!
Okay, that's funny. Mostly because I've always been curious about those funny bugs and have never taken the time to find out! Maybe I won't go sticking my face up close anymore, however...
Wow - I didn't know any of those facts. Interesting!
(And HA! About the 'wouldn't it be great to be expected to be larger than your mate'. Yes it would!)
Every guy reading this has got to think "Those male stick bugs have it made!" After all, with those kinds of odds, the males have their pick of female stick bugs!
Thanks for teaching me today!
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