Most people have at least seen a picture of a stick insect before. They’re known for resembling sticks (looking identical really) and other varieties of vegetation. Their "camo" is some of the best in the natural world.

Also known as walking sticks, stick insects are members of the order Phasmatodea and there are over 3,000 species; they vary in size from 1/2" to up to 13". Phasmatodea can be found world-wide but like many odd insects, most sticks are found in the warm tropics.

As I’m sure you would guess, stick insects are herbivores; they only eat the leaves of shrubs and other plants. Also, sticks are nocturnal and spend their day hanging from the plants they’ll eat for dinner.

As you can see in the video below, it’s common for walking sticks to rock back and forth. There are several theories for this motion:

1. The rocking motion is meant to resemble leaves and sticks swaying in the wind…an elaborate accessory to their already effective disguise.

2. The second theory is related to relative movement…it is thought the stick bugs rock back and forth to determine what objects are in the background and what objects are in the foreground.

Stick bugs are also unique because some species are parthenogenetic meaning they reproduce asexually. The females lay eggs and the eggs develop without being fertilized. The eggs hatch and the nymphs closely resemble the adults.

Did you know? Stick insects are often kept as pets. Pet stick bugs are easy to care for and can live up to three years in captivity. Of all the species, the Indian stick insect is probably the most common stick species kept as a pet; they can grow up to 3.9" in length. Never release a pet stick they can and have become an ecological problem.

{photo credit: Kate’s Photo Diary}

Unlike our other weird insects who were included because they looked weird, the Sunset Moth is included because its colors are absolutely stunning…especially for a moth.

The sunset moth’s scientific name according to Hypergrowth, creator of this blog, is Chrysiridia rhipheus and belongs to the Uraniidae family. Its wingspan is between 2.75” – 3.5” and sometimes even 4”; the size of the moth depends on what altitude the moth lives in.

Chrysiridia rhipheus is often incorrectly indentified as a butterfly because of its colors but also because it is a daytime flier. How to tell the difference between a moth and a butterfly?

The colors of the sunset moth are its most notable feature. Surprisingly, unlike other moths, the colors of the sunset moth are not pigments but rather the result of optical interference. Curved, ribbon-like scales and an air-cuticle mulitlayer cause the bright colors; for more information read this abstract on the wings of a sunset moth. To the right is an up close picture of the moth’s wing scales. {photo credit: Charles B. Krebs}

As you would imagine, this colorful moth is sought out by insect collectors around the world, but you must travel to Madagascar (an island off the eastern side of Africa) to find this beauty.

Other weird insect posts:

1. Artichoke Plume Moth
2. Crab Spider
3. Cow Ant

{top left photo credit: Ivan Tortuga}

The artichoke plume moth is a moth (believe it or not) belonging to the superfamily Pterophoridae (plume moth). It is believed there are currently 159 species of plume moths in North America.

Adult artichoke plume moths can range in size from 3/4” to 1 1/4” and are typically light shades of brown…as seen in the picture to the left. Plume moths are recognizable because of their odd shaped wings and posture; the moths can be found in a variety of shapes and sizes.

Artichoke plume moths can cause serious damage to artichoke plants. The larvae will eat any part of the plant but the costly damage occurs when they eat the flowering buds. Damage to the artichokes happens primarily when the plant is grown as a perennial (central coast of California); most artichokes grown in southern California are grown as annuals. Artichoke growers can reduce the plume moth infestations by 95% if certain steps are taken such as including plant materials in the soil and shredding the tops.

Missed our first two posts about weird insects? Here they are:

1. Cow Ant
2. Crab Spider

This is the second post in a series about odd insects. Our first post was about the cow ant which is actually a wasp.

The crab spider is another odd insect. It’s a spider but has a shell that is shaped like a crab’s shell. The formal name for this insect is Gasteracantha cancriformis but it’s also called the crab spider, jewel spider, smiley face spider, jewel box spider and a variety of other names

This peculiar spider is found in the southern states from California to Florida and they’re also found in South and Central America. Crab spiders are often spotted in the citrus groves.

Gasteracantha cancriformis are actually quite small; the females are 5 to 9 mm in length and 10 to 13 mm in width and the males are even smaller. As you can see from the picture, they can be brightly colored. The crab spider pictured is yellow but the spiders can be any combination of red, yellow, black and white. Crab spiders are often seen in their webs which usually have little puffs of silk (you can see one above the spider in the photo). The purpose of the tufts is not known but the book Florida’s Fabulous Spiders By Sam Marshall, G. B. Edwards says the tufts of silk serve as a warning sign to birds and other creatures to avoid accidentally destroying the web.

Crab spiders can bite but they’re not poisonous and you typically wont find them in the house.

This is the first installment in a series of posts about weird insects. I thought I’d start with the cow ant because even its name is odd.

The cow ant is technically not an ant; it’s actually a wingless, female wasp. These furry insects are part of the family mutillidae. Male mutillidae have wings and cannot sting. There are over 4,000 species of mutillidae around the world; 400 can be found here in the US. Cow ants are most often spotted in the sandy areas of the US.

Also known as velvet ants, mutillidae have a thick hair covering their body. In the picture above the cow ant has red and black hair but they can also be seen with gold, silver or white hair. While the picture above is not the actual size, it may be pretty close. Cow ants are about an inch long or the size of other wasps.

So why are they called cow ants? The cow ant has a very painful sting (remember she’s actually a wasp) and is thought to be so painful it could kill a cow. But, cow ants are not aggressive and would rather be left alone. Adult Mutillidae feed on water and nectar.

Pest control note: cow ants do not cause any damage.