A few weeks ago I was in San Diego, California for #ComSciCon19 and walking back to the dorms late in the evening when a friend grabbed me just before I stepped on something. I bent down to get a closer look and found this stick insect.
After doing a bit of searching and posting a photo on iNaturalist I think this is an Indian Walking Stick* (Carausius morosus). These insects are native to India and are often kept as pets — which may be how they ended up in San Diego. This species has been found in neighborhoods along the California Coast since the 1990s and iNaturalist has California records ranging from San Diego to Marin County, just north of San Francisco (see image below). Indian Walking Sticks have also been recorded in Great Britain and South Africa, likely due to accidental introductions.
We’ve written about iNaturalist and think it is a fantastic resource to help identify plants and animal all over the world. Plus iNaturalist has the added benefit of helping scientists track disease outbreaks and follow invasive species.
*This is my best guess based on the research I’ve done. If you are more familiar with stick insect taxonomy please help me identify this species.
Do you have a photo or video of an urban species doing something unusual? What about a rare plant or animal that you were surprised to find in a city? If so, let Lindsay know or Tweet at us and you could be featured as a future observation of the week!
Your identification seems quite correct. 🙂