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🚨 ARTHROPOD OF THE DAY 🚨
Achrioptera fallax is a stick insect species found in Madagascar.
The males are a bright electric blue (with greenish tints) and have two rows of reddish orange spines along the edges of the femur. There are also dark colored spines going along the sides and underneath the thorax. Males are brachypterous (incapable of flight) and have small reduced wings. The forewings are a bright yellow; the hind wings have a yellow ridge and are primarily red with a black center.
The 7th and 8th tergum (abdominal segments) both extend outwards along the sides, giving it the gradual shape of a hexagon. The 9th tergite is like the rest of the abdomen but has a pair of cerci for mating. Cerci are like claspers (as seen in dragonflies) that help the male grasp the female during copulation. Females have a duller coloration. They are a light brown with red spines covering the entire thorax, as well as the top of the head, where males lack spines.