The Mikado walking stick is an East Asian stick insect that lives in Japan and Korea, where it hides in broadleaf trees by looking exactly like a twig. You won't find it in the wild in the US. Males are extremely rare, and females usually reproduce on their own.
Appearance
- Appearance
- A slender, wingless insect; females are about 2¾–4 in (7–10 cm) long, and the rare males are smaller. Green or yellowish brown. Young have striped legs and short antennae.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Broadleaf forests
- Range
- Native to Japan (Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu) and Korea. It does not occur in North America.
Behavior
- Diet
- Leaves of broadleaf trees such as oaks and cherries.
- Overwintering
- Females drop seed-like eggs to the ground one at a time from summer to late fall. The eggs spend the winter on the ground and hatch in spring.
Life cycle
- Reproduction
- Females lay eggs without mating. A 2025 study of seven rare males found that they mate but leave no genes in the offspring, suggesting the species has switched to female-only reproduction for good.
Name and classification
- About the name
- Older works often call it Baculum irregulariterdentatum or Ramulus irregulariterdentatus. That name dates from 1907 and is now treated as the same species as Ramulus mikado, named in 1904.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
- Threats
- In some years it builds up to huge numbers and eats trees' leaves heavily, as on Mount Bongsan in Seoul, South Korea, in 2020.
More species to explore
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