Northern Walking Stick

Diapheromera femorata

The Northern Walking Stick is a slow moving, wingless insect. This species is long (stick-like) with slender legs and very long thread-like antennae. Individuals are mostly brown and may reach 4 inches long.

Northern Walking Sticks are usually found in trees and shrubs in deciduous forests.

During the fall, females will drop seed-like eggs to the leaf litter below host plants. Eggs over winter in the leaf litter and hatch in the spring. During the summer and fall nymphs develop into adults. Typically, one generation is produced a year.

 

Nymphs and adults feed the foliage of trees and shrubs. In the spring, nymphs feed  on understory shrubs. Later instar nymphs and adults feed on a variety of host plants including the following tees (leaves):  apple, basswood, birch, dogwood, hackberry, hickory, locust, oak, pecan and wild cherry. Outbreaks are cyclic.

 

Atlantic coast to northern Florida, west to New Mexico and north to Alberta

Least Concern

Insects/Spiders

insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/aimg9.html

bugguide.net/node/view/34736