Tobacco Spitter

Michael and I were out back clearing up an old pile of boards that had accumulated for the past five or six years.  This pile was such an eyesore in the yard that it just had to go!  He and I would pull board after board, check for quality, discard the rotten and broken ones and stack the usable one to the side.  Those saved boards will be put to good use as raised "box" gardens, trellises, garden fences and gates.  While we were scouring the massive pile, we came across all sorts of bugs.  Nothing unusual about bugs being in such a place but one insect (really two) caught our attention. There was a rather large Walking Stick Insect clinging to the underside of a piece of plywood that was destined for the burn pile.  On closer inspection, we noticed that this was actually a pair of Walking Sticks.  The much smaller male was riding on the back of the humongous female.  It must be mating season for these bugs as later we noticed several more such pairs.

Tobacco Spitters!  Pop always told me never get too close to these critters as they would spit tobacco juice on me.  To me, that was just about the worst thing that could ever happen.  No one in our household smoked or used tobacco products at all.  We, as kids, were told of all the bad things that could happen to your body if you ever did use tobacco so having a bug spit the dreaded juice on me terrified me!  I knew never to play with this bug!  I was even warned that it could spit far enough to reach me even if I poked it with a stick!  Come to find out, these warnings were not too far-fetched!

This species of Walking Sticks do "spit" at anything that it perceives as a danger and that could possibly be a little kid with a poking stick!  They have glands just behind their thorax that stores a semi-toxic secretion that can be sprayed with amazing accuracy at any predator.  This milky fluid has a strong, foul odor which should be enough to chase away most predators but if not, the second shot could possibly bring results!  The discharge is especially harmful if it is gotten in the eyes or mucus membrane.  In the eye, it causes extreme pain and blurred vision for up to four days!  That is some tobacco juice!  Thank goodness this insect is usually docile enough that it rarely "spits" at random curious visitors! So folks, in the words of Pop..."You best leave that bug alone before it spits tobacco juice in your eye!"