Found this creature on my door. If you can't tell from the pictures, he's about 6 inches long. Scared the you know what outta me. I'd never seen one before and didn't know what it was called, so I just Googled, "bug that looks like a stick," only to find out that it is actually called a "stick insect." Anticlimactic to say the least. The scientific name, "Phasmatodea," is slightly more exciting.
Fun facts:
1) Average litter size = 1000
2) Average life span = 1-2 years
3) Conservation status = threatened
4) Reproductive method = parthenogenesis (In other words, unmated females produce eggs that become more females without the help of a male. If a female does mate with a male, there is a 50% chance their offspring will be a male. For some species of stick insects, scientists have been unable to find a male.)
5) World record = longest insect (up to 14 inches)
6) Defense mechanism = regurgitation of a nasty substance that puts a bad taste in the predator's mouth; oozing a foul-smelling hemolymph from the joints in their body; shooting a chemical spray similar to tear gas at the predator
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