An insect like a stick. Stick insects: wild but cute ghosts

Representatives of any species struggle to survive. This statement is true both for animals and birds, and for plants and insects. Scientists were not exaggerating one bit when they decided to dub a large group of the latter ghosts. The capacious name reflects the essence unique creatures leading a rather peculiar lifestyle.

photo: Arthur Anker

A careful examination of the plant sometimes leads to an unexpected result: the revived “branches” leave the previously occupied place and hide in the dense foliage. The lucky ones who observed such a transformation can be sure that they met ghostly ones on their way.

The order of ghost insects, otherwise called stick insects (Phasmatoptera), has over 2,500 species, the majority of which live in the tropics. Large quantity differences led to the division of the order into 3 families: Phasmatidae (true stick insects), Phylliidae (leaf insects) and Timematidae (inhabiting the territory North America thymematids).

photo: Chun Xing Wong

The name reflects the resemblance to twigs, leaves and branches. U different types body length can vary from 2 cm (Chilean anisomorph) to 30 cm (Frushtorfer's stick insect, which breeds in Southeast Asia). The predominant part of the representatives of this order is characterized by an elongated body. A flattened and wide body can only be boasted by those living in Southeast Asia Leafweeds.

Stick insects appeared approximately 250 million years ago. IN Mesozoic era this order of insects included many excellent flying varieties (aeroplanoids).

photo:Ralf

As for the structure, representatives of this order are similar to other insects. The body consists of the abdomen, chest and head. Three pairs of often long legs are attached to the thoracic segment.

The small head has a slightly elongated shape. Antennas are located in front of the compound eyes, with which stick insects feel obstacles that appear in front of them. Leafbirds use these body parts for communication. With the help of antennas, the larvae produce sounds in a range inaudible to humans. The chirping sound warns individuals of one species that the plant is already occupied.

The middle part of the chest of stick insects is greatly elongated. The 10-segmented abdomen is also strongly elongated or leaf-shaped. A sucker can be found between the 5-segmented tarsi. The elytra are often shortened or completely absent. Males are smaller than females. Females have a short ovipositor at the end of the abdomen.

Stick insects grind leaves throughout their lives. The upper jaws (mandibles) equipped with powerful teeth help them in this. On the lower jaws (maxillae) there are special palps with receptors, thanks to which insects taste water and food.

photo: Gavin White

The femoral segments of the stick insect's front legs, as a rule, have grooves. The legs extended along the body allow the insect to place its head in the niche between the thighs. Individuals who choose this position most closely resemble twigs.

The life expectancy of ghosts varies within one year. Before turning into an adult, the larvae must molt 5-6 times.

photo:Reinaldo Aguilar

Stick insects are characteristic (green or brown), the color of which can vary from light to dark shades. The color of the stick insect depends on the level of light, temperature and humidity. The change in color brightness is achieved due to the expansion and contraction of the grains of the coloring pigment located in the hypodermis.

Some species of stick insects may have dorsal ridges and cones protruding above the body surface. Deciduous extensions are also not uncommon. The effectiveness of camouflage is explained by the ability to remain in a stationary position for a long time. At the same time, one cannot underestimate the importance of the posture adopted by the insect.

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Only two species of stick insects live in Russia. On Far East Baculum ussurianum (Ussuri stick insect) is found. Ramulus bituberculatus lives within Bashkiria.

They have attracted human attention for a long time. Today, keepers (people who spare no time in breeding exotic animals) are trying to get them into their living collections.

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A mysterious creature, flexible, like a willow twig. How dangerous is the stick insect? Does he really exist?

The stick insect "Pinocchio", as a composite image of several creatures, gained popularity on the Internet in 2009, when an unknown user published a video called "station922.mkv".

The original video from 2009 mysteriously disappeared from the video hosting site and now only excerpts and cuts can be found on Youtube.

Subsequently, the video itself became the subject of many rumors and, according to some of them, is capable of causing madness after viewing.

What is shown in this video?

An unknown creature, whose height is about 2 meters, quite quickly descends from the roof of a high-rise building, clinging to the window sills with its limbs.

Subsequently, users dubbed the creature a stick insect, and then even provided several photographs confirming its existence.

Several photos taken in Russia show strange creature, flexible and mobile.

It almost always tries to climb a high-rise building, and therefore users suggested that the stick insect is extremely curious.

Subsequently, “Pinocchio” (the creature received this name for the shape of its torso and long limbs) was compared with Longshanks, a creature Slavic mythology.

He loved to scare people by getting into chimneys and looking into windows.

The word “Pole” itself came from “pole”, since the creature demonstrated unnatural thinness.

The limbs of the stick insect are long, the joints can change their position, allowing the creature to penetrate even the most inaccessible rooms.

The being itself is dark or brown, the stick insect has no facial features, like any hair.

At one time, “Pinocchio” was compared to Slenderman, the creation of Eric Knudsen, who created the image of an urban horror story in 2009, which later became extremely popular.

The origin of the stick insect, as well as its belonging to a specific biological species, unknown.

(Video provided by the administration of the VKontakte group - “Unknown animals of planet Earth”)

stick insect– amazing insect, it belongs to the order of ghosts. There are more than 2500 species of them. Outwardly, it resembles a stick or leaf. You can verify this by looking at photo of stick insect.

He also has a head with antennae; body covered with chitin; and long legs. The stick insect is recognized as the most long insects. The record holder lives on the island of Kalimantan: its length is 56 cm.

On average, these insects are from 2 to 35 cm. Their color is brown or green. It can change under the influence of heat or light, but rather slowly. Special cells containing pigments are responsible for this.

There are eyes on the small round head; by the way, stick insects have excellent vision, and oral apparatus gnawing type, capable of overpowering branches and hard veins of leaves.

The body is narrow or with a flattened abdomen. The legs are covered with thorns or spines and look like stilt sticks. They end with suction cups and hooks that secrete a sticky liquid.

A stick insect can move quickly using this, even across glass wall. Some species have wings, which they can use to fly or glide.

These amazing stick insects live in the tropics and subtropics next to fresh water bodies. Most of all they love thickets of succulent bushes. Although there are exceptions, the Ussuri stick insect can also be found in the Far East of Russia, in the Caucasus and in the mountains Central Asia.

Character and lifestyle of the stick insect

Stick insects- these are masters of phytomimyry, or simply camouflage. If he sits on a branch in bushes or trees, it is simply impossible to find him. Thanks to its body shape, stick insect looks like a twig.

But his enemies react to movement, so he is also characterized by thanatosis. At the same time, he falls into a stupor and can be in the most bizarre and unnatural position, very long time.

While camouflaging, a stick insect can be in the most bizarre and uncomfortable positions for a long time.

Stick insects begin their movement at night, but even then they do not forget to take precautions. They cannot be called nimble insects. Very slowly and smoothly, freezing at every rustle, they move along the branches, eating succulent foliage.

This is a fairly large non-flying insect, 12 cm long and one and a half cm wide. Now, having artificially propagated the population, they have allocated an entire island as a reserve, having previously destroyed all the enemies.

Most insects use two methods of defense. The first is to actively respond to the attack. But for this you need to have a weapon no less formidable than the attacker. The second method comes down to hiding as quickly as possible. And for this we need strong legs or wings.

Its large size and inactivity made the stick insect a tasty morsel for predators.

Enemies of stick insects

• Birds. Stick insects are often caught by small birds searching for food among trees and bushes.
• Spiders. Stick insects rarely get caught in spider webs, but their larvae, which often live in the litter, become prey for stray spiders prowling both the ground and vegetation.
• Mammals. In some areas, small arboreal mammals prey on stick insects.

How can unarmed and slow stick insects escape from their enemies? These insects have found a very unusual way: the body shape of stick insects is almost identical to the shape of the branches of the plants on which they live. This similarity is enough to make them almost invisible to predators. Moreover, insects not only resemble twigs in their shape, but can also imitate the position and movement of branches. When a light breeze moves the vegetation, the stick insects move in time with the surrounding foliage.

The stick insect takes a protective pose, stretches out its front legs and antennae and looks like a pointed twig. This method of protection, in which the insect is likened to a plant, is called “phytomimyry”. To find a stick insect hiding on a branch, you just need to lightly shake the plant: when frightened, the insect will begin to move along the branch.

In addition, they are able to maintain absolute stillness, plunging into a cataleptic state of “imaginary death” and emerging from it when the threat has passed.

The protective (critical) posture of the stick insect is characterized by a special adaptive property - the so-called catalepsy. In this state, the appendages of the insect’s body acquire “waxy” flexibility and it can be given any unnatural pose. For example, an insect can be placed head down, while the abdomen and legs can be bent in the most bizarre way. Even amputation of a limb will not bring the stick insect out of catalepsy. This condition is regulated by the nervous system.

Species such as leaf stick insects mimic leaves.

But it happens that the disguise fails, and the predator attacks the stick insect. In this case, some stick insects have powerful spines on their bodies and limbs, with which they can inflict painful injections on the enemy. Other species adopt a threatening posture, similar to how scorpions do. Finally, some species of stick insects have " chemical weapons": special glands in the thoracic region produce a caustic substance that is similar in effect to tear gas. When threatened, they spray this substance at the predator through ducts that open behind the head. The attacker has no choice but to leave the stick insect alone. The toxins it produces are so strong that they can cause severe pain even in humans if they get into the eyes or mucous membranes.

Sly insects

All animals try to make the most of environment. Some of them, in particular stick insects, have adapted to use even other animals for their benefit.

Perhaps the most responsible activity for many animals is caring for their offspring. Mammals, birds, some reptiles (for example, crocodiles) and even fish (cichlids) tend to take care of their offspring. This phenomenon, as a rule, is not characteristic of invertebrate animals. At first glance, stick insects, like most insects, do not care about their offspring at all. It would seem that the female laid her eggs in a suitable place and forgot about them. But this “irresponsible” approach is far from simple. The female stick insect lays eggs singly on the surface of the soil or on plants. The eggs are similar to seeds and have a dense shell, which allows them to be camouflaged and protected from potential enemies. The shell of eggs contains fats that attract ants. They pick up the eggs and take them to their anthill. After eating the outer shell, they leave the egg at the foot of the anthill. They fearlessly defend their home, and their bites are quite painful, so it is a rare animal that dares to approach an anthill. Not surprisingly, stick insect eggs are relatively safe here.

This strategy is called “myrmecochory.” Scientists believe that in this way stick insects have adapted to expand their habitat, since the ability of adult individuals to move is very limited.

Some properties of stick insects are so unusual that research centers are studying them.

Parthenogenesis

Some species of stick insects are characterized by parthenogenesis, i.e. a method of reproducing offspring without the participation of a male. But it manifests itself only under certain conditions. An example is the Indian stick insect Carausius morosus. In his natural environment habitat in the forests of India, males and females of this species mate to reproduce, like other stick insects. Moreover, in laboratory conditions, females deprived of males can lay eggs without fertilization. The ability to reproduce in the absence of males is the subject of a number of scientific studies.

Regeneration

As a rule, animals are not able to regenerate lost limbs. But stick insects (some species) are an exception to this rule. They can regenerate lost parts of their body. For stick insects, this is one of the ways of protection. This phenomenon is called “autotomy” and is expressed in self-amputation of the injured limb - separation of joints, etc. Lost body parts are restored quite easily.