WALKING-STICK. An insect of the or thopterous family Phasmidfe, especially one of those forms destitute of wings, in which the body is long, slender, and cylindrical like a small stick, the legs being slender and delicate. and resem bling little twigs. Some of the walking-sticks proper. which are more abundant in the tropics than elsewhere, reach a length of nine inches or more. From their resemblance to the twigs and leaves of various plants, the terms walking leaf and leaf-insect (q.v.) are often applied to them. Some of the slenderer species look like stems of grass; others resemble pieces of bark covered with lichens, while others appear mossy. Protec tive resemblance, in fact, is carried to an extreme in this group, the legs and antenme, and even the attitudes assumed by the insects, enhancing the resemblance to vegetable structures. The eggs frequently strangely sculptured and resemble the seeds of various plants, each being surrounded by a capsule. They are dropped
loosely un the ground, where they rennin during winter. The adults are very voracious, and are plant-feeders throughout their entire growth. A North American species (Thapheromera femo rata) feeds on the leaves of several trees, but more especially upon and when occur ring numerously may cause excessive defoliation. It a leg be cut off beyond the femur and tro ehanter joint, the parts remaining outside the joint are dropped before the next molt and are afterwards renewed either as a straight, short stump or as a miniature leg resembling the nor mal one except in size and in the absence of one tarsal joint. A leg cut off nearer the betty is not replaced. Phasmithe ha VC been found in the fos silized amber, in the Tertiary strata in North America. and in the Carboniferous rocks there oc cur remains of gigantic insects which may pos sibly be connected with this group.