Peppermint Stick Insect

Megacrania batesii · Order: Phasmida · Family: Phasmatidae

Damages trees, gardens or crops. It can damage pandanus plants, which are used for making mats.

Source: Wikipedia

Peppermint Stick Insect
Photo: Paul Whitington, CC BY

Adult peppermint stick insects are pale green and about 8 to 14 cm long, with females larger than males. When threatened they spray a peppermint-smelling fluid from glands on their prothorax. They live in lowland tropical rainforests near the beach, often on the upper surfaces of Pandanaceae leaves.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Their common name comes from the peppermint-scented defensive spray and their twig-like, cylindrical body. Adults and last-instar larvae are uniformly pale green, with the head, thorax and legs a slightly darker shade.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

Males measure 76 to 87 mm (3.0 to 3.4 in) in body length, while females are larger at 98 to 137 mm (3.9 to 5.4 in). Both sexes have similarly sized forewings, but males have relatively larger hind wings.

Source: Wikipedia

Is it a pest in the house?

Although they can heavily damage the pandanus plants they eat, these plants are not of major economic importance. An infestation in the Philippines has destroyed pandanus plants used for making mats.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

They inhabit complex mesophyll vine forests at the forest-beach transition in lowland tropical and subtropical rainforests. Individuals are found in small numbers resting on the tops of Pandanaceae leaves.

Source: Wikipedia

What it eats

In captivity it will also eat other Pandanaceae such as Freycinetia spp., P. gemmifer, P. utilis, and P. whitei.

Source: Wikipedia

Life cycle

The species mainly reproduces by parthenogenesis, though sexual reproduction has been observed. Most wild specimens are female; males are uncommon.

Source: Wikipedia

More photos

Peppermint Stick Insect photo 3
Photo: portioid, CC BY
Peppermint Stick Insect photo 4
Photo: Paul Whitington, CC BY

Questions people ask

What does the peppermint stick insect spray?

It releases an irritating fluid with a peppermint-like odor from glands on its prothorax when threatened.

Source: Wikipedia

What plants does it eat?

In the wild it feeds on several Pandanaceae species, and in captivity it accepts other Pandanaceae like Freycinetia and various Pandanus.

Source: Wikipedia

Same family (Phasmatidae)

Smooth Stick InsectSmooth Stick InsectClitarchus hookeriMargin-winged Stick InsectMargin-winged Stick InsectCtenomorpha marginipennisDamages trees, gardens or cropsPrickly Stick InsectPrickly Stick InsectAcanthoxyla prasinaDamages trees, gardens or cropsSpur Legged PhasmidSpur Legged PhasmidDidymuria violescensSpiny Leaf insectSpiny Leaf insectExtatosoma tiaratumCan irritate skinTitan Stick InsectTitan Stick InsectAcrophylla titan

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megacrania_batesii

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.

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