I live in eastern Pennsylvania. Every now and then, I find this stick-looking insect and have yet to find out what it is. It's not a walking stick or a praying mantis. They're only about 3 inches long and look more like a blade of grass. They're gray/brownish and have legs like a praying mantis- four for walking and the front two are used more like arms that are usually held straight out front and have tiny gripping spikes. The mouthpiece looks like a sucking type, although when I was a kid, I found a bunch of these on one bush, so I collected them in an aquarium and I guess the cardboard or whatever I had in there for them attracted some of these tiny moths and the "stick" insects would catch and eat them. What are they? An unidentified species? I find more of them than walking sticks, but not as much as praying mantises. I just found one the other day.
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Walking stick? Some kind of mantid?
Replies (3)
sounds like a leaf insect
It doesn't resemble a leaf though. I found a dead one and have it here in work to show my coworkers and some described it as a crane fly with no wings. The body from head to rear is 1 1/8" long with two long narrow antennas and two front "arms". Some of my coworkers called it some kind of walking stick, but it has more mantid characteristics (front arms instead of legs, piercing mouth piece). I may have an unidentified species here. They're hard to see since they're so narrow and dark brown/gray in color. None of the nature gurus here at work have ever seen this insect.
It might of been a crain fly than. not sure hmmmm. We have crain flys here.
