antigua had it with stick bug. my grandma used to say it was a "devil's walking stick", that is a cool name to a little kid. i hadn't seen one in years til i saw this one in gulf shores, al, and the ones we saw weren't near this big, about 5" long.
here's some of the info i found on the internet if your interested:
Can a Walking Stick Cause Injury?
Though walking sticks are not known to bite, some walking stick species, for instance, the American stick insect (Anisomorpha buprestoides), found in the southeastern United States, can spray a milky kind of acidic compound from glands on the back of its thorax. It aims the spray with surprising accuracy, unerringly hitting the face of a perceived predator, including humans or pets, from one to two feet away. The compound causes intense burning and even temporary blindness should it strike the eyes. Should that happen to you or your pet, you should drench the eyes with cool water and seek medical attention promptly.
A Few Walking Stick Facts
As indicated by the fossil record, the walking stick has evolutionary roots that reach back more than 200 million years, to the Triassic geologic period
Walking sticks have suction cups and claws on their feet which enables them to wall up vertical surfaces and upside down
Approximately 1 in 1000 stick insects is male
The walking stick is the longest of all the modern insects, with a documented specimen from Borneo, for example, measuring more than 18 inches in length.
The giant walking stick, Megaphasma denticrus, which ranges from New Mexico eastward, is perhaps the longest in the United States, measuring six or seven inches in length.
Lacking a partner, a female walking stick can still lay fertile eggs, although all will yield female larvae. (Animals that can reproduce asexually are described as "parthenogenetic" by biologists.)
The females of some species rely on ants to disperse their eggs, a process called "myrmecochory."
A New Guinea species has heavily spined back legs that native peoples used as fishhooks.
Author: Jay Sharp
that's probably more than you wanted to know, but never know, it might be a question on "Jepardy".