The Australian walking stick is a master of deception, but a twig is just one of its many disguises. Before it’s even born, it mimics a seed. In its youth it looks and acts like an ant. Only when it has grown up does it settle into its final, leafy form. Along the way, it fools predators at every turn. | Deep Look • PBS

Meet our Northern walking stick (Diapheromera femorata), a master of camouflage and subterfuge. Seen here is a male, usually smaller than females, which can grow to 7 inches long. Oaks and hazelnuts sustain this insect from hatchling to adulthood. Looking like a branch certainly helps avoid being eaten, but its reproductive cycle is also ingenious. The eggs are dropped from a tree, one at a time, during late August into September. The eggs mimic seeds, each sporting an edible attachment that clo