Walking Sticks
Walking sticks are usually brown or dark green and about 60mm (about 3″) long. They have long thin, sticklike bodies and long thin antanae. Camoflage is their greatest asset.
Walking Stick-Forest Health Protection (left), Walking stick-University of Wisconsin (right)
Description
They occur in the east of the Rocky Mountains, southern Canada all the way down to the southern US.
Walking stick-Provincial Museum of Alberta, Canada (left), Walking stick-University of Michigan (right)
Lifecycle
They lay their eggs in a mass on the ground in rotting leaves and overwinter in the eggs stage. Eggs are black and about the size of a small pea.There is usually only one generation per year.
Severe infestation east of the Rockies-Forest Health Protection
Diet and Damage
They attack cherry trees, oak and other hardword trees. They are not usually very harmful but severe infestations may occur. They can defoliate trees. Nymphs feed on the leaves and eat the entire leaf except the hard veins. They are interesting to watch if you do happen to spot one.
Control
1) Birds
Birds are a natural predator of the walkingstick. Put up bird houses in the affected trees.
2) Hand Pick
If you can spot them that is. Drop them in hot soapy water. I only recommend this if you have a severe problem as they rarely do major damage unless en masse.
August 16th, 2005 at 10:36 am
i was just wondering if stick bugs in canada bite and if it hurts or if you can get any type of desise from them latele i have bean having a problem with them getting in the house i have had about 10 to 15 in the house well in my room any thing from baby to adults the have mostly bean green ones but i have one huge ugly brown one so i was wondering if they are fine or i should worry
August 16th, 2005 at 5:56 pm
All bugs can bite, and walking sticks are no exception. They don’t bite unless provoked, but I’d get them out of my house in a hurry. You can spray them with soap or buy a citrus based bug spray. You can also lay down sticky traps along the baseboards.
Regards
Cahri
August 19th, 2005 at 12:23 pm
thank you cahri i will try that
August 30th, 2005 at 3:46 am
Thank you for your helpful information re walking sticks. We just moved from ND to WY and live in the country nw of Cheyenne. On my screen windows every morning are 1-3 walking sticks. I’ve never seen this kind of bug before. They are hay-colored and actually look like a piece of loose hay. They seem harmless enough. Should I be getting rid of them or are they OK to sit on the outside screens?
August 30th, 2005 at 7:13 am
If they are not eating your trees, just leave them be. There are plenty of beneficial bugs and birds that will eat them. If they are bothering your trees then do something about them to stop the cycle from reproducing. You can spray all your trees with dormant oil spray in the fall after the leaves drop. This will kill overwintering bugs.
Regards
Cahri
September 5th, 2010 at 11:20 pm
where can i get a walking stick insect
June 29th, 2011 at 3:54 pm
do stick insects eat other insects such as leaf-eating green worms or are those their larvae and the adults eat leaves, too?
August 27th, 2011 at 7:38 pm
I recall as a child an incredible infestation of waking sticks in the Crivitz area around 1960. When we visited relatives in the area, The farm was alive with walking sticks! It was the only year we have ever witnessed this phenomena.