Back to Show
Deep Look
Australian Walking Stick Insects Are Three Times Weirder Than You Think
Season 9
Episode 1
The Australian walking stick is a master of deception, but a twig is just one of its many disguises. Before it’s even born, it mimics a seed. In its youth it looks and acts like an ant. Only when it has grown up does it settle into its final, leafy form. Along the way, it fools predators at every turn.
Support Provided By

5:04
Explore the parasite Ophryocystis elektroscirrha (OE) and ways to help monarch butterflies.

4:14
Floating colonies of red fire ants are a risk for people wading through floodwater.

3:57
These voracious predators cruise belly up below the surface of a pond or gentle stream.

4:55
Barn owls turn mice, gophers and voles into balls of fur and bones known as pellets.

4:02
It’s called nectar robbing: Bees get nectar, but don’t pollinate the plants in exchange.

3:49
Giant water bugs pack one of the most painful bites of any insect, but they're great dads.

4:33
The spotted wing drosophila may look like a common fruit fly, but it’s so much worse.

5:13
Those precious silk garments in your closet were made by the caterpillars of a fuzzy moth.

3:58
Barnacles might look like jagged little rocks, but they have a surprisingly wild sex life.

4:36
Honeypot ants stuff members of their own colony until they look like tiny water balloons.

4:25
What animal sprays acid that reeks of vinegar from its rear end? A vinegaroon, of course.

4:31
The cage fungus looks and smells like decaying meat — on purpose.