Mediterranean stick insect
The Mediterranean stick insect looks exactly like a thin twig with legs. It can be brown or green, sometimes with a pinkish touch. It stays still for hours in the day and comes out to eat at night.
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Fun facts
Its eggs look just like little plant seeds.
Babies and grown-ups sway from side to side, like a twig in the wind, to fool hungry animals.
Birds, frogs, lizards, mice and spiders all like to eat it, so hiding is very important.
Females are bigger than males, with a fatter tummy.
It sheds its skin a few times as it grows, and lives for up to a year.
Most asked questions about Mediterranean stick insect
?What do stick insects eat?
The Mediterranean stick insect eats leaves, like bramble, ivy and privet.
?How big is a Mediterranean stick insect?
A grown-up can be about 10 centimetres long.
?How long does a stick insect live?
The Mediterranean stick insect lives up to one year.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Bacillus rossius
- Group
- Stick and leaf insects
- Family
- Bacillidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Phasmatodea > Bacillidae
- Lives on
- Europe
- Also known as
- European stick insect, European stick bug, European walking stick
Where the facts come from
- Bacillus rossius (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Lucarelli. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.
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