Hey guys...time for lucky 13.    If you haven't noticed yet, I made an Index for all of these...so if you've missed any or want to find them without digging, it's over on the bottom of my Blogroll.  Now, we're going to change pace a bit today...we've done mammals, reptiles, and birds...today we get into a new category...insects.  Maso suggested the aptly named.....

Goliath Stick Insect Eurycnema goliath

These guys are members of the Order Phasmatodea...that's all stick and leaf insects(or bugs if you prefer).  They are referred to as Phasmids.

*Insert possible nightmare scenario here* (This one is male)

Physical Characteristics:

They look like sticks, which is to say they have excellent camouflage.

(Unfortunately if you want to get technical it's a bit more complicated. )

Females(there's one down below) are larger than males, capable of attaining lengths of around 8.25in(~21cm).  Males(one is in the first picture above) are only about 6in(~15cm).  Still pretty damn big for a bug.   (Note: There's a good bit of variation in length, my sources don't agree definitely, but this is in the ballpark)

The head is large, longer than wide, with 3 ocelli(light detecting organs) and a couple eyes; the head's a tad glossy. It is pale yellow, with green bands running lengthwise centrally and from eyes to back of head, with brownish lines in between. The antennae on the female are about 1.25in(~3.2cm).  On males they are longer, about 2.25in(~5.7cm)  There's also a powerful set of mandibles for chewing.

The thorax is green with some lighter yellowish patches, particularly in males. The dorsal side of the 2nd thoracic segment in both sexes is often marked with a bluish green median line. The first thoracic segment is smooth, and a tad shorter than head, with central indentation. The second thoracic segment in females can be smooth or possess bluish green tubercles(rounded projections); if it is smooth, then there will be tubercles present on the side of the segment. Ventral surface has a series of 4-5 pairs of tubercles surrounded by patches of blue. The metathorax also has lateral and ventral tuburcles with strips of blue. The male always has bold, uneven, paired, green spines on 2nd thoracic segment; the ventral patterning is like the female's.

The abdomen is yellowish green. The final three segments much shorter than previous segments. 
The female has a long lid-like organ called an "operculum" which tapers to a slightly pointed tip and is flanked by cerci(tactile organs).

The male's margins of the posterior segment are slightly broadened and triangular when viewed sideways.  There are claspers with several black teeth within. The tail is also flanked by cerci.

These guys have wings, females cannot fly.  Males have a shot at it, because they're a good bit smaller. The wings are moderately long, oval, and green above with white longitudinal bars and patches. The bars are suffused with purple. The underside of the wings are bright red in females.  In males they are edged with green and sometimes reddish. Average length of wings are 1.75in(~4.4cm) in females, and 0.6-0.8in( ~1.5-2cm) in males.

The legs are long and slender with toothed ridges, mottled with green and yellow; with bold apical spines.  To be blunt, the legs are pretty spiny.

The large and in charge female.

Here's a size comparison.  The male is the little twig-like one.

Sorry if that was overly wordy and painful...there are just too many colors and patterns.  Luckily pictures clarify it.

Habitat:

Australia, mate.   Across the tropical North of Australia and farther South along the East coast.  There is a lot of contention about the true natural range because...well, they're really hard to see.

They generally inhabit whatever they're currently eating.  So, primarily arboreal.

Diet:

Strict herbivores.  They're not really picky, but seem to prefer eucalyptus and acacia.  I reckon they'll probably eat whatever other plant that tastes good as well.

They tend to eat the entire leaf that they start on, unlike other insects which will leave some of it uneaten.  Other than that, nothing special...it just sits and eats.

Behavior:

Nocturnal, mostly.  In the daytime it just hangs out, swinging in the breeze.  When moving they often jerk and stagger to simulate a blowing twig or branch, pretty good at keeping the illusion.  If it happens to come in contact with a predator, it has an active defense that involves those wings.  That bright red part remains hidden until something messes with the stick insect at which point it will attempt to scare the predator away by whipping out a sudden flash of color and apparently makes some kind of swishing sound with its wings.

Red! Run away!

It will also attempt to kick with those spiny legs.  If all else fails, it can lose its legs and drop away from a predator.  Fortunately after molting, the missing leg will start growing back.  For the most part, though, they're pretty mellow.  They don't mind being handled by people, either...unless you're rough with them, of course.

They have a very interesting behavior called "frass tossing" (or shit slinging).  'Frass' are droppings if you couldn't guess from the context clue.  The Goliath will catch its droppings in that little pronged tail structure you see and fling it away from where they're living, to hide exactly where they are.  They can whip their crap about 6.5-9.8ft (~2-3m) away.  Impressive, really.   This can also be used for defense purposes, but they do it all the time anyway.

The poo slinging device.

There's no mention on a specific breeding season, so I guess it could be year round.

Mating is pretty gentle and boring, often taking several hours during which feeding may continue. The male holds on to, and settles on the female's back, the ends of the abdomen are then brought together and sweet love is made.   They are parthenogenetic, though.  If no males are around, females can still lay viable eggs(called 'ova'). The young will all be female themselves and be genetically identical to the mother.

Ova aren't laid some much as dropped to the ground (of which there will be over 100, possibly much more-couldn't find a solid number).  They look exactly like seeds, another bit of camouflage in the stick insect repertoire. They hatch around 6 months later, usually with a water stimulus.  When encouraging ova to hatch, breeders will mist them with water.

Ova circling a penny for some reason.

What hatches from the ova, are tiny little versions of the adults- nymphs. 

Baby!  It's one day old.

Nymphs take around 4-6 months to mature, going through several molts on their way to adulthood. (7 seems to be the number)  Lifespan appears to be around 1-2 years, with the only info I could find, so take that with a grain of salt.

Interesting Facts:

Phasmid is taken from the Greek 'phasma' which means 'phantom' or 'apparition.'

Goliaths seem to be pretty popular for breeders.  They're a little difficult to manage because their hatching rates are fairly low, other than that they seem pretty easy to care for.

The Goliath is the second largest stick insect in Australia, the Titan being the first.

The largest stick insect(well, the largest insect in the world) is the Phobaeticus serratipes measuring up to 13 in(33cm), head to tip of abdomen.

There are few reports of phasmids being eaten by humans.

An old report states that natives of Goodenough Island, New Guinea, used the boldly spined hind legs of a Eurycantha species as fishhooks.

A few species of phasmid squirt defensive sprays that have been known to cause temporary blindness in humans and predators.

There are over 2,500 species of phasmids and probably more to be identified.

One Australian species, the Lord Howe Island stick insect, is now listed as critically endangered. It was believed extinct until its rediscovery on the rock known as Ball's Pyramid. There is a large effort in Australia to rear this species in captivity.

Stick insects look like sticks....wonder how they got their name...

"I'm ready for my closeup!"

...and that's a stick insect for ya.

~Zoo