I took this photo of an as yet unidentified stick insect one evening. It was resting on some Oamaru limestone just by our front door.
It transpires that there are nine genera and twenty-two species - wouldn't you know it! According to the New Zealand Stick Insect website, there are two subfamilies. Being able to tell one species from another depends on the arrangement of body spines, size of body, and most importantly the structure of the male and female genitalia and morphology of the eggs. Given that eggs were nowhere to be seen, and I couldn't get close enough to investigate the poor beast's genitalia (even had I known what I was looking for) identification of this beastie is not going to be possible. However, based solely on distribution criteria and the fact that it was found effectively in our garden I am plumping for a member of one of the eight species of Acanthoxyla. They are usually green or brown (yes), have black tips to their spines (yes) and thrive on garden plants (yes), and to boot this specimen is about the right size!
