Up Next
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
4:51
Horseshoe crabs may look scary, but really they’re lovers, not fighters.
4:29
Digger bees build a different kind of sandcastle at the beach – it's part of their nest.
4:42
Can axolotls salamanders thrive once again in their ancestral waters in Mexico City?
4:09
Hermit crabs are more than happy to let snails build them a perfect home.
5:03
The drama is real for this sultry flower, a gorgeous butterfly and an unlucky fungus gnat.
3:56
Scorpions are notorious predators, but they also have delicate sensory organs.
4:52
The hydra, named after a mythical multiheaded monster, may be the secret to eternal youth.
4:25
This fly’s larvae tunnel inside greens like arugula and kale, leaving squiggly marks.
4:15
Each seed is home to a head-banging moth larva, trying to survive the Sonoran Desert sun.
5:01
Female aphids are matriarchs of a successful family operation — taking over your garden.
4:36
Firebrats and silverfish are pretty darn similar to some of the earliest insects on Earth.
4:11
After sunset, tiny crustaceans called beach hoppers emerge from sandy underground burrows.