Above and below: Passiflora, the passion flower. For many years I would say that the passion flower was my favourite flower, but to be honest I don't think I have a favourite (it was the tulip once, then the lupin, then the snapdragon, then the bluebell ...).
Vietnamese Walking Sticks live between 6 months and 1 year. Importance to Man. Walking sticks are a common prey animal for many predators, including birds, reptiles, rodents, spiders, and other insects. This makes them an important part of the food chain. Fun Facts. There are about 2,000 species of walking sticks in the world. Ten of these live in North America. Because this type of walking stick can reproduce asexually, males are rare. There are far more female than male Vietnamese Walking Sticks.
There are a number of other well-described examples where keystone species act as determinate predators. Sea otters (i) regulate sea urchin populations, which in turn feed upon kelp and other macroalgae (Duggins 1980). The otters keep the sea urchin populations in check, thus allowing enough kelp forests to remain as a habitat for a variety of other species. As a result, the entire ecosystem is kept in balance. In terrestrial environments, fire ants function as keystone predators by suppressing the numbers of individuals and species of arthropods that could be harmful to agriculture.