Stick Bugs

When someone talks about pets, they immediately think dogs and cats. Maybe rabbits, birds, or guinea pigs. Our family pets are bugs! The majority are stick and leaf insects, which are native Australians. Through the kind donation of family friends or serendipitous findings, we also had spiders, katydids, and a case moth caterpillar. Although it's not allowed to have exotic imported pets in this country, the pets we can have are exotic enough for us. There is nothing Chloe likes more than throwing a couple of stick or leaf bug males in the air to make them fly, and at their size (8-12cm), they really look like mini airplanes with an awkward, almost silly flight. The most beautiful are the children's stick insects, which are native of Queensland, New South Wales an Victoria. The females seem to have been painted in pastel colors, cream, purple, and apple green. The males look entirely different, almost like a different species, and fly a lot better. During traffic hours (when Chloe throws them up in the air), we bump into them, or they simply use the ceiling fan as a landing and take-off strip. More about our pets tomorrow! For now, the picture of a female children's stick insect.