Winged Stick Insect vs Reunion Flightless Weevil

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Winged Stick Insect Reunion Flightless Weevil
Scientific Name Megacrania batesii Cratopus ovalis
Order Phasmatodea Coleoptera
Family Phasmatidae Curculionidae
Size 100-140mm 8-12 mm
Habitat Beaches & Coastal Forests
Diet Herbivores Herbivores
Regions Oceania Reunion Island
Conservation Least Concern Vulnerable

Winged Stick Insect

A large bright green stick insect with well-developed wings that can fly short distances. It feeds on pandanus palms along tropical coastlines. When threatened it sprays a peppermint-scented defensive chemical.

💡

Did You Know?

It sprays a liquid that smells exactly like peppermint oil from glands in its thorax when threatened.

Reunion Flightless Weevil

A flightless weevil with fused elytra endemic to the island of Reunion. Its inability to fly has made it vulnerable to habitat fragmentation.

💡

Did You Know?

Flightlessness evolved independently in many island beetle lineages as an adaptation to windy conditions.