Happy Monday! I couldn’t decide which of these two photos to use today so I’m using both. My husband found this beautiful little nymph out in the garden and brought it in to show me.

It’s been interesting reading about stick insects. As far as I can tell, this nymph is a Clitarchus hookeri also known as a tea tree stick insect. Endemic to New Zealand, usually green but sometimes brown or red. Likely to be the most common species in NZ.

Some interesting facts include;

* Females grow longer (81-106mm) than males (67-74mm).

* They’re widespread in the north island and also found in the South Island, as far south as Dunedin.

* They were introduced into Great Britain (from a sexual population in Taranaki), and the whole UK population is all female.

* They like Manuka, Kanuka (or white tea tree, which is why sometimes they’re referred to as the tea tree stick insect), pohutukawa, roses and well as other plants.

* They moult. They go from egg to nymph (with six developmental stages) before a final moult into adulthood.

* Some females are able to produce fertile eggs without mating. Others reproduce sexually.

* In the South Island (of NZ) males are rare or absent but in the North Island asexual and sexual populations exist. (So, this one is probably a female).

I hope you enjoy this little cutie, nothing compares to seeing it in person though. Cannot believe how tiny it was.

Have an awesome week! 🙂 thanks for visiting.