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title: "What the sources say about the Giant Prickly Stick Insect | AnimalTracks.wiki"
description: "40 claims from the Giant Prickly Stick Insect profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it."
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# What the sources say about the Giant Prickly Stick Insect (*Extatosoma tiaratum*)

> 40 claims from the Giant Prickly Stick Insect profile, each beside the words of the source that backs it. A "..." marks a cut in a quote and [brackets] an insertion.

Profile: [Giant Prickly Stick Insect](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/giant-prickly-stick-insect/)

## Giant Prickly Stick Insect. Franklin Park Zoo, Zoo New England.

https://www.zoonewengland.org/franklin-park-zoo/animals/insects-spiders/giant-prickly-stick-insect/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| A leaf-mimic that sways like a branch in the breeze, and hatches looking like an ant. | gently sway back and forth like branches moving in the breeze (note: tagline; the ant half is the next claim) |
| Tropical forests of northern Australia and Papua New Guinea | These leafy insects live in tropical forests throughout northern Australia and also Papua New Guinea. (note: stats.habitat) |
| Mostly eucalyptus leaves | feed primarily on eucalyptus leaves (note: stats.diet) |
| Franklin Park Zoo lists females at 4 to 5 inches long (about 10 to 13 cm) and males at 3 to 4 inches (about 8 to 10 cm). | Male: 3-4 inches long Female: 4-5 inches long (note: converted: 4-5 in = 10.2-12.7 cm, 3-4 in = 7.6-10.2 cm) |
| Males have wings and can fly. | Males have wings and are capable of flight |
| Females have very short wings and cannot fly, but spiny projections on their legs and abdomen help deter predators. | spiny projections on their legs and abdomen that help deter predators |
| This insect lives in tropical forests in northern Australia and Papua New Guinea. | These leafy insects live in tropical forests throughout northern Australia and also Papua New Guinea. |
| It is arboreal, meaning it lives in trees, and nocturnal, meaning it is active at night. | arboreal, nocturnal insect |
| It feeds mostly on eucalyptus leaves. | feed primarily on eucalyptus leaves |
| It often curls its abdomen to look like a dry, dead leaf, and it sways gently like a branch in the breeze. | They often curl their abdomens to resemble dry, dead leaves and gently sway back and forth like branches moving in the breeze |
| The curled abdomen looks like a scorpion's tail, but the insect has no stinger. | Its curled abdomen resembles a scorpion's tail, but unlike a scorpion, it has no stinger. |
| If threatened, an adult can release a strong-smelling odour. | If threatened, adult giant prickly stick insects can release a strong-smelling odor as a defense |
| Bats, birds and reptiles still eat it. | they are still preyed upon by bats, birds and reptiles |
| Females can reproduce without a mate. This is called parthenogenesis. | Females are also capable of reproducing without a mate, a process called parthenogenesis. |
| Eggs made this way take longer to develop. | Eggs produced this way take longer to develop |
| Females are the larger sex. | the larger, wingless females |
| Its main defence is camouflage. | they rely primarily on their remarkable camouflage for protection |
| the insect sways gently back and forth like a branch moving in the breeze | gently sway back and forth like branches moving in the breeze (note: vibe.reason) |

## Britton. Leaf and Stick Insects: Order Phasmatodea. The Australian Museum.

https://australian.museum/learn/animals/insects/leaf-and-stick-insects-order-phasmatodea/

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| A leaf-mimic that sways like a branch in the breeze, and hatches looking like an ant. | look and behave like red-headed black ants (note: tagline (ant half)) |
| Hatches looking and behaving like an ant | look and behave like red-headed black ants (note: stats.superpower) |
| The mother flicks her eggs onto the ground below her perch. | flicking them onto the ground below their perch |
| Each egg has a knob, called a capitulum, that ants find attractive. | The eggs have a knob, called a capitulum, which is attractive to ants. |
| Ants carry the eggs back to their underground nests. | Ants carry the eggs back to their underground nests |
| The young stick insects, called nymphs, hatch after one to three years underground and look and behave like red-headed black ants. | The young phasmids (or nymphs) hatch after one to three years underground and look and behave like red-headed black ants. |
| They emerge from the nest and climb rapidly upwards, looking for soft green leaves. | They emerge from the ant nest and climb rapidly upwards, looking for soft green leaves. |
| The ants eat only the knob, says the Australian Museum, and leave the rest of the egg in the nest, protected from other animals that might eat it. | eat only the knob, and leave the rest of the egg in the nest, protected from other animals that might eat it |
| The Australian Museum says females live for about 18 months, while males survive for around 6 to 8 months. | The females live for about 18 months, while the males are only short-lived, surviving for around 6-8 months. (note: Museum (Australian institution, sex-specific) preferred over FPZ's unsexed 10-12 months) |
| Only the males. They are long and slim, with fully developed wings. The females have very large bodies but very short wings, and cannot fly. | The females of this species have very large bodies but very short wings and are unable to fly. The males are long and slim with fully developed wings. (note: FAQ 1; FPZ says 'wingless', but the Museum and sexually-2022 ('vestigial wings') say the wings are very short) |
| Females have very short wings and cannot fly, but spiny projections on their legs and abdomen help deter predators. | The females of this species have very large bodies but very short wings and are unable to fly. (note: wing half; FPZ's 'wingless' contradicts the Museum and the vestigial wings in sexually-2022) |
| The giant prickly stick insect, Extatosoma tiaratum, hatches as a fake ant. | look and behave like red-headed black ants |

## Rudolf & Brock (2017). Extatosoma tiaratum. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T80201037A104413678.

https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2017-3.rlts.t80201037a104413678.en

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Least Concern | IUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC). (note: stats.conservationStatus; GBIF's copy of the Red List, taxon id 80201037 matches the DOI) |
| The IUCN Red List rates the species Least Concern. | IUCN Red List category: Least Concern (LC). |

## Zeng et al. (2020). Canopy parkour: movement ecology of post-hatch dispersal in a gliding nymphal stick insect ( Extatosoma tiaratum ). Journal of Experimental Biology.

https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.226266

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| A study found that newly hatched nymphs travelled more than 100 metres within 60 minutes. | Newly hatched nymphs ascend with high endurance, travelling >100 m within 60 min. |
| Researchers found that newly hatched nymphs answer touch and a potential threat with a self-dropping reflex. | respond to tactile stimulation and potential threat with a self-dropping reflex, resulting in aerial descent |
| Gliding then helps them recover after a drop. | gliding is then an effective mechanism enabling recovery after predator- and perturbation-induced descent |
| They can also jump across gaps. | Nymphal E. tiaratum also use directed jumping to cross gaps |

## Alavi et al. (2016). Novel microsatellite markers suggest the mechanism of parthenogenesis in Extatosoma tiaratum is automixis with terminal fusion. Insect Science.

https://doi.org/10.1111/1744-7917.12373

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| Fertilised eggs produce sons and daughters, and unfertilised eggs produce female offspring. | Fertilized eggs produce sons and daughters through sexual reproduction and unfertilized eggs produce female offspring via parthenogenesis. |
| No. Researchers describe the species as facultatively parthenogenetic, meaning females lay eggs continuously whether or not they have mated. Unfertilised eggs hatch as daughters. | Extatosoma tiaratum is a facultatively parthenogenetic Australian insect (Phasmatodea), in which females oviposit continuously throughout their adult lifespan irrespective of mating. (note: FAQ 3) |
| Unfertilised eggs hatch as daughters. | unfertilized eggs produce female offspring via parthenogenesis (note: FAQ 3 last sentence) |

## Burke & Bonduriansky (2022). Sexually but not parthenogenetically produced females benefit from mating in a stick insect. Functional Ecology.

https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.14095

| The page says | The source says |
| :--- | :--- |
| In one study, daughters produced by parthenogenesis were smaller than sexually produced females and more prone to deformities in their vestigial (leftover, tiny) wings. | parthenogenetically produced females were smaller and more prone to deformities in vestigial wings |