Megacrania
Sign in to saveMegacrania is a genus of the subfamily Megacraniinae of stick insects. Members of this genus are commonly referred to as "peppermint stick insects", due to the characteristic odor of their defensive spray, as well as the cylindrical, twig-like shape of their bodies.
In the Vinony graph
Vinony's link graph records 4 inbound references to Megacrania, and connects out to Australia, Animalia and bird.
It is catalogued under topics including Insects described in 1871, Insects of Australia and Phasmatidae.
Vinony links it to 7 Wikipedia language editions.
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- taxon
- Parent taxon
- Phasmatidae
- Image
- Megacrania.batesii.male.jpg
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- Commons category
- Megacrania
- taxon name
- Megacrania
- taxon rank
- genus
- topic's main category
- Category:Megacrania
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Encyclopedic overview
3 sectionsContents
- Taxonomy
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Megacrania is a genus of the subfamily Megacraniinae of stick insects. Members of this genus are commonly referred to as "peppermint stick insects", due to the characteristic odor of their defensive spray, as well as the cylindrical, twig-like shape of their bodies.
These unusual insects are notable for their aposematic coloration, as well as their robust chemical defense mechanism. This mechanism consists of an irritating fluid — with an odor resembling peppermint — that they spray from a pair of scent glands located at the prothorax when threatened. This fluid is irritating or painful when inhaled or absorbed through mucous membranes, and is an effective deterrent against many arthropod, reptilian and avian predators.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Megacrania” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.