leaf skeletonisers

This not-so-little leaf eating insect is native to North America. This one had a body about 4 inches long. I found this one on my car side-mirror this morning. Even though the common walkingstick is a generalist it does tend to prefer foliage from oak and hazelnut trees. And I have A LOT of oaks, and Steve has been planting hazelnuts. In the shade, his body looked uniformly drab brown, but as soon as I caught him in the bright sunlight he became surprisingly colorful. According to Wiki, walkingsticks are leaf skeletonisers, eating the tissues between the leaf veins, pausing for a while and then walking on to new leaves. Leaf skeletoniser may be my new favorite expression.

northern walkingstick (Diapheromera femorata)