Stick insect

Fascinating animals. In one image it appears to have 6 legs, as an insect should - in the other imnage it appears to have only 4 - this is because it has moved, and moved the front two legs to be parallel to the feelers, to look even more stick like.

NZ has a number of species of stick insects about which little is known.

Stick insects belong to the insect order Phasmatodea – the name comes from the Greek word 'phasm', meaning phantom