My cat came upon one of these bugs. It sprayed the defense chemical into his eye. My cat went nuts, his eye was swollen for several days. He droolled at the mouth and his eye drain clear liquid. I thought I was going to take him to the vet, but it cleared on the 3rd day, by day 4 he had his sight back. Please make it be know for animal such as cats and dogs to beware and not sniff around them.
Two-striped walkingstick by: Moni
Colleen
You have seen the two-striped walkingstick, a common walkingstick in the southeastern US - from FL to TX. And as you suspected, it is a mating pair. The larger being the female. It has been noted that the male and female may attach to each other even before the female is mature...the male will hang on while the female molts.
One thing to be aware of is they can shoot a chemical spray that is irritating to the eyes. This
'odiferous' secretion is for defense and can be shot a foot or so with great accuracy.
The Univ of FL Entomology dept notes that the distinctive black and white striped walkingsticks of this species is only seen in the Ocala National Forest (this species seen elsewhere is brown with black stripes). They note, as you saw, the insect loses its distinctive white stripes once dead.
These insects feed on the leaves of trees and shrubs. The females are known to drop to the ground in the fall to lay their eggs in the sand.
What a great find!
Thanks for all the helpful information you provided also - it really helped with the identification.
