Going Alone

Walking stick insects (Phasmatodea) are fascinating not only for their alien appearance but also for their behavior which includes rocking their bodies to appear as twigs moving in a gentle breeze. These insects are called Nanafushi ナナフシ in Japanese. This behavior may also be a clever trick to help the insect discriminate nearby objects from background clutter. Some species of stick insects are able to reproduce without males through a process called parthenogenesis. Some spe