Nothing more than a spindly branch waving in the wind — Written by Te Korowai o Waiheke Team Member

Many years ago, when I was much smaller and more spritely, I found myself in the thick of a kānuka tree on the manicured grounds of the Auckland Botanic Gardens. I pushed back through to the green lawns, wiping cobwebs out of my eyes and mouth as I went. As soon as I think I am free of creepy crawlies, two long, hooked feet wrap themselves around the brim of my cap.

Captured by Carlo Domingo on Rotoroa Island.

 I lock eyes with a tiny, cautious green face as she slowly peers down. She brushes around my nose with her antenna and tries to step down onto it, but it seems a bit far for her awkward body. I take off my cap and hold out my hand, which she gladly takes some wobbly steps on to.  I can see how she gets her name, to the unobservant eye she looks like nothing more than a spindly branch waving in the wind. Her legs, antenna and body look like nothing more than little green stems. I thought once she settled on the back of my hand she would stop wobbling, but she continues to sway in time to an imaginary beat. It’s like a silent disco as she waves her front legs around. Finally, she grabs on to the end of my finger and freezes still.

It is not uncommon for the twig that has fallen on to your outdoor dining table, or is stuck to your kitchen window, to actually be a rō, or stick insect. Aotearoa has around 20 different species, all with the same remarkable camouflage in shades of brown and bright green. Stick insects eat a leafy green diet, with different species preferring different types of plants to eat and live amongst. While looking like a glorified stick is handy for not becoming someone’s dinner, it’s not so great for finding a mate. Because of this, some female stick insects are able to reproduce asexually, known as parthenogenesis. And in Māori culture, having a stick insect land on you is a sign that you might be hapū (pregnant!) or that you have entered sacred grounds. 

I scour the kānuka for more stick insects, and to my astonishment they seem to be everywhere! Each one graciously stepping forward onto my hand or the brim of my hat as I make my way around the edge of the tree. Their legs wave in my peripheral vision as I have them hanging not only from my fingers, but from the point of my nose and chin too. I am amazed by their unbothered tickles as they roam around like I am just an extension of the tree. The scrape of each foot is so tentative and gentle as they stride slowly back to the branches and disappear into the foliage again. Since that moment, I always take time to spy them out in the bush and admire all the different colours and textures they have adopted to be so invisible to those passing by. In doing so, I manage to discover things I would never have seen if not forcing myself to look a bit closer, so I encourage you to do the same. Take a moment to look for the stick insects, then stop and think about what else you might be seeing too.

— Written by Te Korowai o Waiheke Team Member, Charlie Thomas.

— Captured by Carlo Domingo on Rotoroa Island.