Stick insects or phasmids (order Phasmatodea) are well-camouflaged nocturnal insects, which contain some of the world's largest extant insects. Worldwide there are about 3000 species of phasmids, most of which occur in the tropics.
Colombia is amongst the 17 megadiverse countries in the world mainly due to its privileged position in north-western South America and its highly complex topography. It inherits an incredibly rich fauna, but the stick insects have so far remained very poorly studied and certainly are as yet only fractionally known.
This book presents a complete catalogue and bibliography of the Colombian stick insects and is a first step towards a more comprehensive knowledge of the Colombian phasmid fauna. 182 different species are currently known to occur in Colombia, 74 of which are newly described herein.
