Canopy parkour in ant-mimicking stick insect hatchlings

new manuscript explaining the connection between post-hatch dispersal into tree canopies and the evolution of gliding in nymphs of Extatosoma tiaratum, a stick insect native to coastal Queensland. https://jeb.biologists.org/content/223/19/jeb226266 Post-hatch dispersal in Macleay’s spectre stick insect, Extatosoma tiaratum. (A) Left: natural habitat of E. tiaratum, illustrating the spatial complexity and vertically varying light environment. Photo... Continue Reading →

October 15, 2020 0

Evolution of flight morphology in stick insects

The origin of insect flight presumably underwent a series of intermediate morphologies, which, unfortunately, has not been shown in the fossil record. However, we can infer such transition by studying extant insects undergoing secondary flight reduction. In this new publication (link), we presented a framework for describing the evolutionary pathway between winged and wingless (volant)... Continue Reading →

September 21, 2019 0

Rapid aerial righting in baby stick insects falling upside-down

(this is part of an article written for the Phasmid Studies Group news letter, June issue 2017) Most stick insects are friendly and easy to rear, which made them convenient for lab studies. Also, there are more important reasons why they are suitable for the topics I was addressing – flight evolution. Anybody who has... Continue Reading →

June 16, 2017 1

Aerial righting in wingless stick insects

First instar Extatosoma tiaratum, ~1.7 cm long. Analysis of velocity vectors with respect to rotational aerodynamics. Following my discovery of gliding behaviors of nymphal Extatosoma tiaratum stick insect at UW greenhouse in fall 2005, I conducted a series of researches on gliding behavior of nymphal stick insects as an undergrad. It was extended into my PhD thesis research,... Continue Reading →

January 29, 2017 0

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