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The Walking Leaf
By Vanina Mangano, Tue Jan 10th
Imagine - you are sitting in your garden, working on your latestgardening project, when, suddenly, a leaf walks leisurely by. Atthis point, you may wonder whether you've spent too manyconsecutive hours in your garden...but relax, you have not gonebananas. Well, the scenario may not happen in quite this way,but we've all likely seen the mysterious 'walking leaf' bug atone time or another. The walking leaf insect, also known as Phasmida, from thePhylliidae family, can sometimes be found in our very owngardens. It would actually be a rare instance to see theseinsects in motion, since they are experts at camouflagingthemselves, and they only feed at night. The natural question,at this point, is whether or not you as a gardener should fearthese little creatures. Unlike other plant eaters, the leaf bugis rarely considered to be a plague, even by farmers.Occasionally, they can be considered pests to the eucalyptustrees, where they can reproduce in great numbers and cause amajor problem - a female can lay thousands of eggs within herlifetime, which is only up to 18 months long. Otherwise,Phasmidas are considered to be very passive and are strictlyvegetarians. Unlike other plant-eating insects, the leaf bugswill eat an entire leaf, rather than taking random bites of manyleaves. This makes their trail difficult to find, allowing themto go unnoticed for a period of time. The walking leaves range from 20-330 millimeters long, and aregreen or
brown in color. Because of their shape and color, theymay be difficult to find, especially when they are on thedefense, at which time they may play dead by falling to thefloor, or sway slightly as a leaf would in the wind. Otherwise,they choose to remain extremely still.
What makes the walking leaf very interesting is that they havethe ability to reproduce through thenogenesis - without mating.When this occurs, however, all eggs will result in femaleoff-springs, whereas mating would result in both male and femalereproduction. Within the 50 different leaf bug species, somemales are said to be extinct. This may be difficult to believe for some, but the walking leafbug has become a popular pet. Caring of the leaf bug is veryeasy and does not require high maintenance, so is great for bothkids and adults. Because of their unique shapes, framed leafbugs have also become a popular decoration and sell for over$200. So the next time you notice a suspicious, moving leaf, or onethat looks right back at you, you can rest easy knowing it isjust the Phasmida! About the author:Vanina Mangano is co-founder of MYeFlora, an online gardeningcommunity. Vanina is a business professional and a passionategardener who enjoys writing about and participating in nature.Visit her site at http://www.myeflora.com.
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