Vietnamese Walking Stick

Appearance

Vietnamese walking sticks are approximately 4-5 inches in length. Their heads are elongated and oval shaped with thread-like antennae. Their chewing mouthparts are specially adapted for eating plant material. Along its thorax are a number of small pointed bumps. Their middle set of legs show small flanges and minute spikes. These walking sticks are brownish in color and have six legs, which is a characteristic of all insects. Both male and female Vietnamese walking sticks have no wings.

Behavior

The Vietnamese walking stick is short lived, living between 5–7 months. Nymphs look nearly identical to their parents except in size. They molt about 6 times before they become adults. At 3 months of age they become able to reproduce. Their main predators are birds and small mammals, though their camouflage helps them combat this.

Reproduction

''Medauroidea extradentata'' is mainly parthenogenetic, meaning they are asexual, making males very rare in the species. The female drops hundreds of eggs onto the forest floor, these eggs hatch in a few months. The eggs of this species are mottled with black and white and capped with black.