Tip of the week ON THE WILD SIDE

IT’S autumn, so the birds are heading back to Africa, fungus is taking over woodlands and the last fruits are ripening. Keep an eye out for birds fattening up before their long journeys.

Stick insects are members of the order known as phasmids, meaning phantoms – they are often called spectra or ghost insects.

It’s easy to understand why as they have some of the best camouflage in the animal kingdom. Around 3,000 species live on every continent other than Antarctica.

They prefer the tropics, with about 300 species on the island of Borneo alone. The smallest are less than 2cm in length, while the longest insect in the world belongs to the phasmid family; with legs outstretched, they measure more than 50cm.

Camouflage is not the only form of defence for stick insects. Most will play dead when disturbed, putting their legs close to their bodies and straight out to look like a twig.

If that doesn’t work, some species have more direct measures. From suddenly opening colourful wings to startle predators, bleeding bitter blood from their knees and spraying toxins from their mouths to stabbing attackers with spines, they are very good at defending themselves.

Even if they do get nabbed and lose a leg or two, they will regrow them over time.

The most fascinating thing about stick insects is that most of them lay eggs, with no need for a male.

The females can lay eggs that hatch into tiny clones of themselves. But if they mate with a male, they have half-male and half-female babies.

The eggs are camouflaged 5 to look like seeds. Some get carried underground by ants thinking they are food. The babies then climb out when they are big enough.

The eggs also have a coating that makes them immune to the acid in bird stomachs, so they can still hatch after being pooped out.