Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Wildlife On Wednesday ... Stick Insects.

I'm back to posting my 'Wildlife On Wednesday' entries.  I haven't posted one in ages, and it seemed it was most definitely time for one.

One of the things I've noticed about this Summer is the absence of the usual throngs of insects.


Take the Cicadas for instance.  During our Summers, they are usually so deafening that I get driven inside into the air-con just to give my ears a break!

But so far this Summer, I've only noticed a soft lilting Cicada song out in the bushland. Sometimes there's just no Cicada song at all!  So very different to last Summer!

There's also been very very few Christmas Beetles which, as they common name suggests, are usually a regular sight in early and mid Summer here.

I've only spotted two so far, and that was a couple of weeks ago now.  No sightings since then! 




The Rhino Beetles are also usually common Summer guests with these fabulous clicking noises.   I've seen none at all this Summer.











Another of the missing Summer insect guests this year, have been those flying Termites.  As a matter a fact, there has been a total absence of any of these annoying little creatures. 


Now I don't mean to complain because they really are annoying!  Usually at this time of year, I'm closing all the doors and windows just as the sun goes down to keep out the masses and masses of these creatures that flock to the lights at night.   There's always a few that manage to get inside the house, despite my best attempts to block every crevice and entryway, and the evidence is apparent the next morning when I have to clean up the broken wings lying scattered everywhere, and the poor little lifeless bodies!  I'm not really missing that job, I have to say!

Yes, it's been a relatively insect-free summer this time around.  I wonder if that has some significance?

The only insect that seems to be hanging around this Summer are the stick insects!  Quite a few of these handsome looking creatures have been wandering up and down the verandah here,or just hanging about from the ceilings. 


These fascinating creatures that look like sticks are actually called Phasmids.  They've developed some fantastic shapes to camouflage themselves in order to prevent detection from their predators.  Some have horns, some have spines and some have lobes on their abdomen or legs.  They can be green or brown.


We often refer to these creatures as 'Walking Sticks', and they vary in size from large ... 


... to very large ...


... to whoppers!!!



These creatures usually feed at night, and remain motionless during the day, hoping their camouflage works.   Whilst they are active at night, they nowhere near as annoying as the insects I mentioned at the beginning of the post.  I don't mind having the Stick Insects visiting our place. 

One interesting little thing about them ... they are one of the small group of insects that can regenerate lost appendages.  Nothing quite like having the ability to grow another leg when you lose one!!!!




I would love to see others posting about the wildlife they see around their house or garden.  If you have created such a post recently, just let me know as I'd love to pop over and visit to see what's been visiting your place lately.

I know my friend, Marguerite, over in Western Australia, has posted today about the kangaroos that she sees from her place.  Do go over and take a look ... Our Neighbours.



18 comments:

  1. I don't mind stick insects - EXCEPT when they jump on me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ooh, I'm with you on that one! I hate it when they land in your hair and get tangled up!!!

      Delete
  2. Interesting post,we have a lot of praying mantis here

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Cathy. We also have Praying Mantis here, but I haven't seen all that many this summer either.

      Delete
  3. Hi Bernie, these are also the insects we found here. For cicadas we also have those bigger greenish ones which are noisy at early evening rather than the daily cicadas. I seldom see stick insects in our property, but i last found a dead one from a mango tree which was more than a foot long, really scary! I don't see any changes of their presence here though. Maybe the length of the dry season affected their life cycle as most of those cicadas and beetle have longer younger stages than their adults. Also because maybe they died in the ground during those stages.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Andrea, we mostly have the Cicadas that sing all day and night long. Thankfully we've had a respite from their deafening chorus this summer.

      That foot-long Stick Insect would be a fantastic sight. We occasionally get the huge ones.

      I was wondering whether the lack of insects here this summer might have resulted from the combination of some rather out-of-the-ordinary weather events over the last year and a half ... there was the rather wet 'dry' season back in 2010 that was followed by the horrid 'wet' season at the end of 2010 and beginning of 2011, combined with the cyclone early last year. Maybe an explanation for the difference in insect numbers.

      Delete
  4. G'Day Bernie.Looks like we have some of the same insects here too. We have cicadas in certain years. 13 year and so on. The droning of those males will almost drive you nuts. When they are gone its like magic! If you have the stick insects do you have the preying mantis as well? I give them a wide berth as they bite.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jean. We seem to have Cicadas every year, but there's just a difference in the number of them ... and the noise they make!! When the population is huge it really does drive us nuts!! I've so noticed the difference this summer.

      Yes we do get Praying Mantis here all the time. Again, this summer there doesn't seem to be quite that many of them though. I too, give them a wide berth!

      Delete
  5. Nice parade of critters, especially those stick insects. I doubt that one will be growing anything very soon being chomped in half. That is a great photo Bernie, but a little misfortune for the bug.

    ReplyDelete
  6. GardenWalk ... truly a great example of the food chain in action!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Bernie...34F dropping and it's snowing. Can I come stay with you?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha, Jean, you'd be most welcome. Are you sure you want 34 deg C, with above 80% humidity? It'a quite warm and toasty!

      Delete
    2. used to it! Its in the 20's this morning and we had snow..and I am cold. I can be your gardener and southern style cook!

      Delete
  8. Interesting about the lack of bugs. I haven't seen a walking stick in ages! The ones you have there are enormous! Scary!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I've been left wondering why the insects have been so scarce on the ground this summer! Do they know something we don't? We do have some rather large insects here, but there are some cute little ones too.

      Delete
  9. Hmm, that is interesting about the 'lack' of insects. I love the stick insects...I have never seen the one with the point in my area, though. That's cool! Wow, what a fantastic shot of the bird w/the very LONG stick insect. Never have I seen one THAT long;-)

    ReplyDelete
  10. The big green stick insect is called a Goliath Stick Insect. It is the females that are bigger, as they are the ones that constantly lay the eggs. The males are smaller and very slim in the body.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi! The horned and the large ones are katydids (maybe there's one grasshopper, not that sure) in the order Orthoptera.

    ReplyDelete

I appreciate your comments and will endeavour to reply to all. All comments are moderated, so spam will be fried.

Related Posts with Thumbnails