INDEX

Insect adaptation
The eggs of many species of stick insect have an appendage known as the capitulum. The capitulum is full of carbohydrates. The ants carry the egg down into their nest where they eat the capitulum but leave the egg.

Why do you think the stick insect has evolved a way to make its eggs appealing to ants?

(Think of hazards if the seed is left on the surface, especially with the frequency of bushfires in Australian forests).

The eggs resemble seeds. The sugar rich contents contained within are most appealing to ants. The sugar rich contents contained within are most appealing to ants. The sugar rich contents contained within are most appealing to ants.

A female mantis is a formidable opponent. The mantis egg sack Predators do not always come in the form of birds or lizards. A Mantis can devour a nymph with ease. This female mantis is protecting her egg sack (foreground).