Any other fans of the Phasmatodea out there? For years, we kept a collection of stick insects — they are extremely easy to raise, and although they aren’t exactly dynamos of activity, they’re weird enough to be entertaining — and so I perk up when I notice a paper on them. The latest news is the discovery of a fossil leaf insect (also a member of the Phasmatodea, but a smaller subgroup specialized to resemble leaves rather than twigs) from 47 million years ago that resembles modern forms very closely. The cryptic camouflage of this group is ancient, and probably coevolved with the emergence of angiosperms.
Here’s the specimen.
(click for larger image)
Photo (A) and line drawing (B) of holotype of fossil leaf insect E. messelensis gen. et sp. nov. from the Eocene Messel Pit, Germany (MeI 12560). a3a10, abdominal segments 310; ant, antennae; cer, cerci; fl, foreleg; fw, forewing; hl, hindleg; hw, hindwing; int, intestinal tract; ml, midleg; vom, vomer.
In case you were wondering about relationships, here’s a very nice cladogram. One other detail is that there are about 3000 species of phasmids with the stick form, but only 37 that are leaflike, and all are confined to Southeast Asia; this fossil was found in Europe, where no such species are native.
(click for larger image)
E. messelensis gen. et sp. nov. in evolutionary and biogeographical context. (A) Simplified cladogram with a partial geochronologic scale showing the phylogenetic position of E. messelensis and the temporal sequence of character evolution. Oldest fossil records of determined adult representatives of Timematodea and Euphasmatodea are depicted. M, Messel fossil site; B, Baltic Amber. Dating of splitting events of crown-group Phasmatodea is unknown. Euphasmatodea represent an unknown number of lineages. Figures are not to scale. (B) Distribution of extant and fossil leaf insects.
Now I’m pining for our old insect pets — we had to leave them behind in one of our many moves. Anyone want to mail me some phasmid eggs?
Wedmann S, Bradler S, Rust J (2007) The first fossil leaf insect: 47 million years of specialized cryptic morphology and behavior. Proc Nat Acad Sci USA 104(2):565-569.
Very interesting. I wonder what they ate.
I recall one type of modern stick insect eats only ivy.
As I recall, most of the modern ones are predators, not vegetarians. We once found a stick bug in our yard, and decided to keep it in an old fish tank for our kids to observe. Alas, it only lasted one day, since in the middle of the night our cats figured out how to get in through the screen we put on top of the tank, and ate the poor thing.
No, that’s not right — they’re herbivorous. Are you thinking of mantids rather than phasmids?
Isn’t there some group of related animals that are kind of like a hybrid between stick insects and mantids? they were “discovered” not so long ago, when someone found and old pinned one that was misidentified… aren’t they carnivorous too?
What I’d like are triops eggs. :(
My parents live in SW Utah, and I visit once or twice a year. Aside from all the wonderful raptor species of the Great Basin (Golden eagles, turkey vultures, kestrels, great horned and flammulated owls just to name a few), I’ve also come to appreciate other lifeforms we just don’t have here in the Pacific Northwest. They have both stick insects and mantids, bark scorpions, and this year we discovered the largest salamander I’ve ever seen in their compost heap. I wish I could find out what species that was…
This is out of place, but I was just reading the 11 January Nature and noticed how the Democrats are failing to make up for the science budget that stalled on the Republicans’ watch. It looks, so far, as if the Democrats aren’t going to boost the science budget as the American Competitiveness Initiative, as announced by Bush, was supposed to do, but rather will leave the science budget the same as in 2006.
PZ says that he takes responsibility for the Democrats, so I’m hoping that he and others who so identify will pressure the Democrats to fund science as had been promised. I can see blame on the part of both parties right now, and later budgets will depend more fully upon Bush than does the fate of 2007’s science spending. So what I’m saying now is that next year’s budget for science depends heavily upon the Democrats, hence it would be helpful for those who align themselves with the Democrats (I don’t align with either party, since they don’t align with me) to push them to support the earlier promised level of science funding.
The recent realignment in Congress ought to give more power to PZ and most commenters to effect more support for science in the budget. I hope that such an opportunity will be welcomed, and well used (I hope that I haven’t missed a blog on this very subject at Pharyngula, but I think not).
Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/b8ykm
“The recent realignment in Congress ought to give more power to PZ and most commenters to effect more support for science in the budget. I hope that such an opportunity will be welcomed, and well used (I hope that I haven’t missed a blog on this very subject at Pharyngula, but I think not).”
There is also an opportunity in Minnesota, now that the DFL is in charge. Interested parties can contact Tim Mahoney, DFL Rep from the East Side of St. Paul. He is now the chair of the Emerging Sciences and Biotechnology Committee in the House of Representatives, and sits on the Higher Education and Work Force Development Policy and Finance Division committee. You can reach him from his official website at
http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/members/members.asp?district=67A
or his campaign website at http://www.electmahoney.com – and sorry, PZ to assist Glen in changing the thread of this post; but Tim is one of the good guys who strongly supports science funding and science education.
Back to phasmids; they played an important part in the movie “Master and Commander.” Aubrey used their mimicry as his inspiration to make his ship appear as a whaling vessel in order to surprise the French ship.
No, that’s not right — they’re herbivorous. Are you thinking of mantids rather than phasmids?
I stand corrected – I was in fact under the impression that at least some of the phasmids were also predators, but evidently that was an incorrect impression (though a quick check with my friend Google finds others who were also under the same impression and were corrected – I guess I need to be more careful about checking out half remembered facts before posting).
You may have been thinking of the recently discovered (well, noticed, more like) Mantophasmatodea.
“So what I’m saying now is that next year’s budget for science depends heavily upon the Democrats, hence it would be helpful for those who align themselves with the Democrats (I don’t align with either party, since they don’t align with me) to push them to support the earlier promised level of science funding.”
I just pushed one of my senators last night. How’s that?
If the mimicry in the adult leaf insect goes back to the Eocene, I wonder if the other adaptations I see in our little colony of Australian spiny leaf insects are as old. To give you an idea what they’re like, there’s a picture of an adult female here: http:/ http://www.amonline.net.au/sand/news/spiny.htm
They lay eggs which closely mimic acacia seeds, these drop to the ground and are hauled underground (and away from predators) by ants that are after a little food parcel tacked onto the end of the seed/egg, as a bribe. After a year, or two, the eggs hatch into a first instar nymph that looks and acts like a largish ant, with a compulsion to climb right back up into the tops of the eucalypts they feed on. Handling a dozen nymphs while trying to change the leaves in their cage is a nightmare.
They are truly weird insects. Kids are fascinated by them. They are great for teaching things like life history strategies.
One of my favorite stick insects is the Lord Howe Island stick insect Dryococelus australis. There is an amazing story of its rediscovery in 2001 and current captive breeding efforts.
Why? Angiosperms are over twice as old as the ~ 50 million years of the oldest known stick insects.
erimo, your link doesn’t work.
Why? Angiosperms are over twice as old as the ~ 50 million years of the oldest known stick insects.
erimo, your link doesn’t work.
Argh! I just notice: the correct name is Eophyllium messelense. The genus name is a neuter noun, so the species name, which is an adjective, must be neuter, too.
Argh! I just notice: the correct name is Eophyllium messelense. The genus name is a neuter noun, so the species name, which is an adjective, must be neuter, too.
Chris, you have a space between the second “/” and the first “w” in your link.
In the interests of maintaining ecological health, I can’t help but remind the naturalists here that since stick/leaf insects are indeed herbivorous people should be quite careful about sending the eggs hither and yon. It is illegal to raise exotic stick insects without a USDA permit simply because they are herbivorous and thus have the potential to be destructive if they were to get loose.
Here is the link to the captive breeding program for the Lord Howe Island stick bug:
http://www.insektus.com/page.php?id=7
Quite a fascinating story involving the need to eradicate rats from Lord Howe Island in order to reintroduce them from
a rocky crag 23 miles offshore where they were rediscovered.
S. Fisher
Here’s the link from my earlier comment.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Howe_Island_stick_insect
According to the paper, “Possible stem-group representatives of phasmids have a geological record extending back to the Permian or Triassic (4, 5), but phasmid fossils that can be assigned to extant subgroups are extremely rare (6).”
Even the leaf insect subgroup may be as old as the Cretaceous: “The maximum age of Phylliinae dates back to the rise of angiosperm plants during the Lower Cretaceous ({approx}125-90 Mya), with visually hunting predators being the main driving force for their evolution.”
I just pushed one of my senators last night. How’s that?
That is the way toward hope.
Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/b8ykm
The Wikipedia entry on the Lord Howe Is stick insect is pretty right as at late 2006, although it is a bit optimistic, as is Steve Fellenberg’s site. One hundred individuals at Melbourne Zoo is a pretty small group. Phasmid eggs seem to hatch when or if they feel like it. I wish them lots of luck.
Apologies if the attempted link in my last post had bad syntax, just demonstrating my amateur status.
The “intermediate” between mantids and phasmids is the order Mantophasmatodea Zompro. The story of its dsicovery is certainly quite interesting, and I plan to write a piece about it for my blog soon. They are certainly carnivorous!
Jesus Christ this is the biggest bunch of nerds i have ever seen, no offence.