(Diapheromera femorata)
Conservation • Description • Habitat • Biology • Distribution • Taxonomy
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Description |
Northern walkingstick is common in the eastern half of the United states and adjacent Canadian provinces. It is the only stick insect found in Canada. It is the most common walkingstick in North America and in Minnesota. The body is extremely long, thin, and almost cylindrical. The male is about 3″ long, the female about 3¾″ long. The body strongly resembles a leafless twig and provides effective camouflage from predators. The male is brown, the female greenish-brown. The sensory appendages at the tip of the abdomen (cerci) are short and have only one segment. They resemble the sensory organs (palpi) that are part of a spider’s mouthparts. The cerci on the female are short and straight. Those on the male are longer and curved, and serve as claspers. Nymphs are green but otherwise look like miniature adults. The legs are long and slender. The group of end segments that together correspond to feet (tarsi) have 5 segments. On the male, the large third segment (femur) of the middle leg is dilated and tends to be banded. There are no wings. The head is small. The antennae are long, slender, and thread-like. They are ⅔ as long as the body. |
Size |
Male: 3″ Female: 3¾″ |
Similar Species |
Prairie walkingstick (Diapheromera velii) males usually have a pale stripe on each side. The femur is never banded or dilated. The cerci on the female are much longer. It is found in weedy, open areas. |
Habitat |
Deciduous forests and woodlands |
Biology |
Season |
May through September |
Behavior |
They feed at night. During the day they remain motionless, clinging to a twig or branch, and often swaying with the wind. When at rest, the front legs are extended forward like the antennae. When threatened, they will drop to the ground or remain motionless, often for a long period. |
Life Cycle |
In Minnesota, the northern walkingstick population fluctuates on a two-year cycle. The odd numbered years are the “boom” years, the even numbered years the “bust” years. Mating takes place during the day from late August to mid-September. The female drops eggs to the ground one at a time. During heavy infestations, female egg-dropping can sound like falling rain. The eggs overwinter in the leaf litter. In the south, they hatch the following spring. In Minnesota, they remain on the ground until the second following spring. After almost two years, they hatch between mid-June late July. During the night, the nymph crawls up the first vertical object it encounters. If that is a stem of a shrub or tree, it begins feeding. Otherwise, it returns to the ground and seeks another vertical object. |
Nymph Food |
Leaves of low-growing plants, including hazel, rose, serviceberry, blueberry, and strawberry. |
Adult Food |
Leaves of hardwood trees, especially black oak, red oak, beaked hazel, American basswood, American elm, black locust, and black cherry. Avoids maple and boxelder. |
Distribution |
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Sources |
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9/12/2024 | ||
Occurrence |
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Common and widespread in eastern North America |
Taxonomy |
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Order |
Phasmida/Phasmatodea (stick insects) |
Suborder |
Verophasmatodea |
Infraorder |
Anareolatae |
Family |
Diapheromeridae (common walking stick insects) |
Subfamily |
Diapheromerinae |
Tribe |
Diapheromerini |
Genus |
Diapheromera |
Subgenus |
Diapheromera |
Subordinate Taxa |
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Synonyms |
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Bacunculus laevissimus Diapheromera femoratum Diapheromera sayi Spectrum betulla Spectrum femoratum |
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Common Names |
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common American walkingstick common walkingstick northern walkingstick |
Glossary
Cercus
One of a pair of small sensory appendages at the end of the abdomen of many insects and other arthropods. In Odonata, one of the upper claspers. Plural: cerci.
Femur
On insects and arachnids, the third, largest, most robust segment of the leg, coming immediately before the tibia. On humans, the thigh bone.
Palp
Short for pedipalp. A segmented, finger-like process of an arthropod; one is attached to each maxilla and two are attached to the labium. They function as sense organs in spiders and insects, and as weapons in scorpions.
Tarsus
The last two to five sections of an insect’s leg, attached to the tibia; the foot.
Visitor Photos |
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Patti Keiper |
Sighted on 9-10-24 in Minnetonka Minnesota on the District Court House window near some woods. It was beautiful. |
Chad W. Dilks |
observed on wild grape vine in woodland bluff |
Connie Walfa |
found on the side of garage. |
St Croix |
Mike Poeppe |
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Mark Schumacher |
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Mark Schumacher, my son Maverick is a bug hunting expert he has another photo of a walking stick we posted 3 years ago when he was 5. This is his current find, these insects are so cool and bring him so much joy! Good job Maverick Schumacher |
My 5 year old found this “stick bug” really cool. Good job Maverick. |
Molly and Robert Power |
Our entire family loved seeing this insect so much that it was brought to the 2nd grade classroom at Avon Elementary for show and tell! We released it back into the wild a few days later. |
Chad & Autumn Brekke |
Check out what we found in our garage tonight. This walking stick was amazing! |
Lindsay Freeland |
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Spotted crossing a sidewalk in town |
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Trisha Parks |
L Fuller |
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Walking stick on a milkweed |
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B. Leppink |
S Shroyer |
Luciearl |
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Adrian Thompson |
Scott & Nan Knowlton |
Found on the hood of our pickup |
Cyndy Showalter |
I thought it was pine needles stuck on the screen of my cabin, but it moved when I tried to pick it off. I have never seen anything like this before in MN, very neat! |
Ashley Merkle |
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so cool |
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Bart Lutton |
Kris Larson |
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P. Contons |
Northern walking Stick, Female was crawling up my leg.... |
M.J. Horgan |
I just found this walking stick (Diapheromera femorata) on the side of the house in Ham Lake, Mn. Wow! : ) — in Andover, Minnesota. |
MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos |
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Slideshows |
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Visitor Videos |
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S Shroyer |
northern walkingstick 01 |
About
northern walkingstick (Diapheromera femorata) |
Other Videos |
Walkingstick at Mount Wachusett - September 7, 2014 |
About
Published on Sep 8, 2014 Northern Walkingstick (Diapheromera femorata), Mount Wachusett Summit, Princeton, Massachusetts, Sunday morning, September 7, 2014, 11:54 AM - Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ70 00039 / 00040 / 00041 / 00042; 59 sec. |
Northern Walkingstick (Diapheromera fermorata) |
About
Published on Aug 30, 2010 One of two I found in the backyard re-stacking a woodpile. Weird bug. |
SciWorks Walking Stick |
About
Published on Aug 1, 2013 Northern Walkingsticks grow over 3 1/2 inches long, with males being smaller than females. Walkingsticks have long, skinny bodies which closely resembles twigs or stems of plants. Males are brown, females are greenish-brown. These insects have very long antennae, about 2/3 the length of their bodies. Scientific Name: Diapheromera femorata |
Walkingstick Insect/ "Stick Bug" |
About
Published on Sep 14, 2016 Twiggy the Walkingstick (Diapheromera femorata, often called a "stick bug") shows how much she's grown on a delicious diet of oak leaves! Song "Word of Mouth" by Ash Dargan. |
Visitor Sightings |
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Report a sighting of this insect. |
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Patti Keiper |
Location: Minnetonka Minnesota Sighted on 9-10-24 in Minnetonka Minnesota on the District Court House window near some woods. It was beautiful. |
Chad W. Dilks 8/20/2023 |
Location: Stockton Hill near Winona, Mn observed on wild grape vine in woodland bluff |
Denise Hukriede 9/27/2022 |
Location: Lakeside Township, Isle, MN 56342 For the 2 days I've watched it, it mostly stayed on my sliding door or on house siding. Like description stated, still during day and moves around at night. Fun to see where it is in mornings. |
Connie Walfa 9/22/2022 |
Location: Sturgeon Lake, Mn found on the side of garage. |
St Croix 9/9/2022 |
Location: Stillwater MN |
Mike Poeppe 8/27/2022 |
Location: near Houston, MN |
Mark Schumacher 7/22/2021 |
Location: Location: Zimmerman, MN Mark Schumacher, my son Maverick is a bug hunting expert he has another photo of a walking stick we posted 3 years ago when he was 5. This is his current find, these insects are so cool and bring him so much joy! Good job Maverick Schumacher |
Chad & Autumn Brekke 9/27/2020 |
Location: Kilkenny, Minnesota Check out what we found in our garage tonight. This walking stick was amazing! |
Molly and Robert Power 9/22/2020 |
Location: Albany MN Our entire family loved seeing this insect so much that it was brought to the 2nd grade classroom at Avon Elementary for show and tell! We released it back into the wild a few days later. |
Lindsay Freeland 8/27/2020 |
Location: New London, MN Spotted crossing a sidewalk in town |
L Fuller 8/9/2020 |
Location: Eagan, MN Walking stick on a milkweed |
B. Leppink 9/6/2019 |
Location: Hubbard County |
Luciearl Summer 2019 |
Location: Cass County |
S Shroyer 9/13/2019 |
Location: Lake Shore, Cass County |
Derek Helfenstein |
Location: North Branch, MN |
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Luciearl 8/25/2019 |
Location: Lake Shore, Cass County |
Luciearl 8/20/2019 |
Location: Lake Shore, MN, Cass County |
Adrian Thompson 8/20/2019 |
Location: Miltona MN |
Jason R. |
Location: Randall |
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Terry |
Location: 6997 90th Ave., Princeton, MN |
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Scott & Nan Knowlton 9/8/2018 |
Location: Cut Foot Sioux Lake Found on the hood of our pickup |
Cyndy Showalter 9/6/2018 |
Location: Ada lake, Pine River I thought it was pine needles stuck on the screen of my cabin, but it moved when I tried to pick it off. I have never seen anything like this before in MN, very neat! |
Mark Schumacher 9/1/2018 |
Location: Location: Zimmerman, MN my 5 year old found this “stick bug” really cool. Good job maverick |
Steven Casperson |
Location: Lakeshore, MN, near Brainerd |
Ashley Merkle 8/18/2018 |
Location: Elk River, MN so cool |
Bart Lutton 8/16/2018 |
Location: Burnsville, MN |
Kris Larson 8/11/2018 |
Location: 17085 262nd Ave NW Big Lake, Sherburne County, MN |
P. Contons 8/6/2018 |
Location: qdoba patio Plymouth, Mn was crawling up my leg.... |
M.j. Horgan 9/13/2017 |
Location: Andover, MN I just found this walking stick (Diapheromera femorata) on the side of the house in Ham Lake, Mn. Wow! : ) — in Andover, Minnesota. |
MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings |
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