Chaparral-endemic
Guides
Timema cristinae
Cristina's Timema
Timema cristinae is a small, flightless stick insect endemic to a restricted region of southern California chaparral. The species exhibits striking color-pattern polymorphism with green, striped, and melanic morphs that provide differential camouflage on two host plants: Adenostoma fasciculatum (chamise) and Ceanothus spinosus. It has become a prominent model system for studying ecological speciation, host adaptation, and the interplay between natural selection and gene flow. The species reproduces sexually with females laying single eggs coated in ingested soil, which require soil contact for successful development.