Next Episode Sneak Peek: Walking Sticks Stop, Drop and Clone to Survive (Patreon)

Walking Sticks Stop, Drop and Clone to Survive | Deep Look

Indian walking sticks are more than just twig impersonators. They even clone themselves into a surprising variety of colors to stay hidden in plain sight from predators. DEEP LOOK is a ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small. --- There’s that old cheesy joke: What’s brown and sticky? A stick. But sometimes it’s not just a stick — but a walking stick. This non-native insect, originally from India, relies on clever camouflage to hide from predators. They’re so skilled at remaining undercover, you may not have noticed that they’ve made themselves right at home in your local park. Some Bay Area researchers are studying the insects’ genetics to learn more about how they are such masters of camouflage. "I can't think of any other insect as effective as they are in remaining hidden in plain sight," said Edward Ramirez, an undergraduate researcher at the University of California, Berkeley who is currently studying the genetics of Indian walking sticks. "How is this possible? was always the question that came to mind, so I wanted to search for a more clear answer." --- Are there male Indian walking sticks? There’s been no observable males, most likely due to the fact females are parthenogenic and don’t need a male to mate. They can just keep laying eggs without sexual fertilization and create hundreds of female offspring, which drastically alters the ratio of males to females. --- Are there any walking stick species with males? If the breeding conditions are right, males occur more frequently in the following three species: Australian stick insects (Extatosoma tiaratum), Jungle nymphs (Heteropteryx dilatata) and a species from Madagascar (Achrioptera fallax). --- What are some of the pros and cons of parthenogenic reproduction? Females can spend more time and energy looking for food and shelter instead of a mate, and they can reproduce faster and thus have a larger population size compared to species that require sexual reproduction. But they can have a lack of genetic variation since they don’t pass genes from separate individuals, and asexual reproduction may not be able to remove harmful mutations that could arise in the genome. ---+ Read the entire article on KQED Science: https://www.kqed.org/science/1958912/walking-sticks-stop-drop-and-clone-to-survive/ ---+ For more information: https://essig.berkeley.edu/ ---+ Shoutout! 🏆Congratulations 🏆to the following fans on our YouTube community tab ---+ Thank you to our Top Patreon Supporters ($10+ per month)! (NEED TO BE UPDATED?) Accailia Alex Amber Miller Aurora Aurora Mitchell Bethany Bill Cass Blanca Vides Burt Humburg Caitlin McDonough Carlos Carrasco Chris B Emrick Chris Murphy Cindy McGill Companion Cube Daisuke Goto dane rosseter Daniel Weinstein David Deshpande Dean Skoglund Edwin Rivas Egg-Roll Elizabeth Ann Ditz Geidi Rodriguez Gerardo Alfaro Guillaume Morin Jane Orbuch Joao Ascensao johanna reis Johnnyonnyful Josh Kuroda Joshua Murallon Robertson Justin Bull Kallie Moore Karen Reynolds Kendall Rasmussen Kristy Freeman KW Kyle Fisher Laura Sanborn Laurel Przybylski Leonhardt Wille Levi Cai liilscootscoot Louis O'Neill luna Mary Truland monoirre Natalie Banach Nathan Wright Nicolette Ray Noreen Herrington Osbaldo Olvera Pamela Parker Rena G Richard Shalumov Rick Wong Robert Amling Robert Warner Roberta K Wright Sarah Khalida Mohamad Sayantan Dasgupta Sharon Merritt Shelley Pearson Cranshaw Silvan Wendland Sonia Tanlimco SueEllen McCann Supernovabetty Syniurge Tea Torvinen TierZoo Titania Juang Trae Wright Two Box Fish WhatzGames ---+ Follow KQED Science and Deep Look: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/deeplook Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kqedscience/ Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/kqedscience KQED Science on kqed.org: http://www.kqed.org/science Facebook Watch: https://www.facebook.com/DeepLookPBS/ ---+ About KQED KQED, an NPR and PBS affiliate in San Francisco, CA, serves Northern California and beyond with a public-supported alternative to commercial TV, Radio and web media. Funding for Deep Look is provided in part by PBS Digital Studios. Deep Look is a project of KQED Science, which is also supported by the National Science Foundation, the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, the Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation, the Vadasz Family Foundation, the Fuhs Family Foundation, Campaign 21 and the members of KQED.