Bug Wiki
Bug Wiki / All bugs / Stick and leaf insects
Sticker of Pink-winged phasma
Bug card No. 3351 of 4,939

Pink-winged phasma

Podacanthus typhon
Eats: PlantsStick and leaf insectsForests and woods6 legs

The pink-winged phasma is a stick insect from Australia with reddish pink legs and big wings. Like all stick insects, it looks like a twig, which helps it hide from hungry birds. It grows to about 11 centimetres long.

Lives in
South-east Australia, in New South Wales
Length
11 cm (4.3 in)
Top speed
about 0.23 km/h (0.14 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It has some small spines, but it does not bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Like other stick insects, it eats leaves.
For real!Photo of Pink-winged phasma
Picture by McCoy, Frederick. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Pink-winged phasma about 11 cm long (4.3 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)A banana about 18 cm (7.1 in)
as long as 3 toy building bricks in a rowabout as long as your handcould run across a dinner table in 16 seconds

How big is Pink-winged phasma compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Its big wings are attached to the middle part of its body.

2

It has small spines on its body and underneath it.

3

It is a small stick insect compared with the giant titan stick insect, and about the same size as the children's stick insect.

you asked

Most asked questions about Pink-winged phasma

?How big is the pink-winged phasma?

It reaches about 110 millimetres, or 11 centimetres, long.

?Where does the pink-winged phasma live?

Only in Australia, in New South Wales in the south-east.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Podacanthus typhon
Group
Stick and leaf insects
Family
Phasmatidae
Classification
Insecta > Phasmatodea > Phasmatidae
Lives on
Australia and Oceania

Where the facts come from

  1. Pink-winged phasma (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by McCoy, Frederick. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

Bug Wiki honey jar For grown-ups: Bug Wiki is free, with no ads and no tracking. A small tip helps keep it online.Leave a tip

More from the same group: Stick and leaf insects

Lord Howe Island stick insectStick and leaf insectsGiant prickly stick insectStick and leaf insectsCommon walkingstickStick and leaf insectsTwo-striped walkingstickStick and leaf insectsIndian stick insectStick and leaf insectsGoliath stick insectStick and leaf insects

Also at home here: Forests and woods

Chestnut tigerButterfliesBrown-hooded cockroachCockroaches and termitesBlack purseweb spiderSpidersBlue ground beetleBeetlesPearl-bordered fritillaryButterfliesGlorious scarabBeetles
Honey jarfor grown-ups