Garden Club

Violet winged stick insect

We are lucky to have a colony of violet winged stick insects (Didymuria violescens) breeding in our school grounds, and regularly see them in the playground. Also known as spur-legged stick insects, they feed on eucalyptus leaves. Males are capable of flying short distances, while females do not fly at all. Eggs are tossed down from the canopy onto the ground. When the nymphs hatch, they must find their way up a nearby tree. As they grow, they will shed their exoskeleton, this process involves hanging upside down from a branch and can take ten minutes.

Many phasmids can reproduce parthenogenetically, meaning that the female is able to reproduce without a male, but all the young will be female. A female can lay hundreds of eggs during her lifetime.