My Stick and Leaf Insects!

[Jacob Ma]

I've had a small collection of stick insects for a little over a year now, and they are probably my favorite insects of all time! Probably most tame and friendly insects or animals in general (as long as they are not being provoked, then they will run away from you) as well as looking very diverse from one another. Next to roaches and some beetles, these insects are probably the most cost moderate to raise as you only need some room temperature (or a little more) heating and cage material to buy for them, unless the plants or decoration are bought as well.

Aretaon asperrimus L3

• Jacob Ma
• May 9, 2016
• 2

Diapheromera femorata (Northern Walkingstick) L1

• Jacob Ma
• May 9, 2016
• 1

Just hatched!

Phyllium philippinicum L1

• Jacob Ma
• May 9, 2016

Hatched yesterday.

Phyllium philippinicum L1

• Jacob Ma
• May 9, 2016

Couple days old, notice the greener color than the freshly hatched nymph.

Extatosoma tiaratum (Macleay's Spectre) L1

• Jacob Ma
• May 9, 2016
• 3

Freshly hatched nymph.

Extatosoma tiaratum (Macleay's Spectre) L3 Silhouette - Female

• Jacob Ma
• May 9, 2016

Newly molted nymph. Notice the spines on the back indicating a female specimen.

Aretaon asperrimus L4 "drying" itself

• Jacob Ma
• May 9, 2016

Newly molted specimen

Aretaon asperrimus L4

• Jacob Ma
• May 9, 2016

Parapachymorpha zomproi (Thailand Beauty Stick Insect) L5

• Jacob Ma
• May 9, 2016

One of the longest insects in my collection! Few more molts until adulthood.

 

[Hisserdude]

Beautiful insects, you got a very nice collection there! For a Phasmid newb like me, could you tell me the names of the species photographed? I'm afraid I have not done enough research on these guys to know what species they all are just by looking at photos.

 

[Tenevanica]

Wow, Jacob, that's quite a risk you're taking there by publicly posting pics of those! Although it does give the potential buyers ** a chance to see the livestock.

 

[Jacob Ma]

Couldn't contain myself for much longer, and plus you wouldn't accuse me now would you? You can't take them away from me!
Just kidding, but just think of it as a nice secret between a few people, who could resist?

 

[sschind]

Couldn't contain myself for much longer, and plus you wouldn't accuse me now would you? You can't take them away from me!
Just kidding, but just think of it as a nice secret between a few people, who could resist?

As long as it stays between a few friends. This ain't Vegas.

 

[Jacob Ma]

The species are (from top to bottom) Aretaon asperrimus, Diapheromera femorata, Phyllium philippinicum, Extatosoma tiaratum x2, Aretaon asperrimus x2, and Parapachymorpha zomproi. I am going to post more pictures of some of my other species.

 

[Hisserdude]

The species are (from top to bottom) Aretaon asperrimus, Diapheromera femorata, Phyllium philippinicus, Extatosoma tiaratum x2, Aretaon asperrimus x2, and Parapachymorpha zomproi. I am going to post more pictures of some of my other species.

Thanks man, I LOVE the Phyllium philippinicus, they are so beautiful!

 

[Tenevanica]

The species are (from top to bottom) Aretaon asperrimus, Diapheromera femorata, Phyllium philippinicum, Extatosoma tiaratum x2, Aretaon asperrimus x2, and Parapachymorpha zomproi. I am going to post more pictures of some of my other species.

Speaking of P. phillipinicum, would you PM me with details about the species? I may be interested in *learning* more about them

 

[myrmecophile]

No need to accuse, the agriculture people frequent these forums.

 

[Tenevanica]

No need to accuse, the agriculture people frequent these forums.

I figured... That's why we need to be careful.

 

[edesign]

Posting on a public forum is about as FAR away from being careful as you can get. Especially one such as this that's focus is bugs. You'd be kidding yourself if you don't think these forums aren't monitored.

Loose lips sink ships. You're not keeping this between a few people, you're keeping it between anyone who reads the forum or searches for certain key words. Nice collection, I am sincerely hopeful that you don't get a special visit. Very poor decision to post this imho. I understand your excitement and wanting to share but emotions are often a precursor to bad decisions which lead to negative consequences.

I would also be VERY careful about PM's and emails sent as any interested government agencies will be able to get that info as well. If they prove you distributed you're going to be in even more trouble.

Tread carefully, enjoy your critters
http://arachnoboards.com/threads/stick-insects-in-the-us-legal-questions.163409/

 

[MaelRadec]

I've had a small collection of stick insects for a little over a year now, and they are probably my favorite insects of all time! Probably most tame and friendly insects or animals in general (as long as they are not being provoked, then they will run away from you) as well as looking very diverse from one another. Next to roaches and some beetles, these insects are probably the most cost moderate to raise as you only need some room temperature (or a little more) heating and cage material to buy for them, unless the plants or decoration are bought as well.

Aretaon asperrimus L3

• Jacob Ma
• May 9, 2016
• 2

Diapheromera femorata (Northern Walkingstick) L1

• Jacob Ma
• May 9, 2016
• 1

Just hatched!

Phyllium philippinicum L1

• Jacob Ma
• May 9, 2016

Hatched yesterday.

Phyllium philippinicum L1

• Jacob Ma
• May 9, 2016

Couple days old, notice the greener color than the freshly hatched nymph.

Extatosoma tiaratum (Macleay's Spectre) L1

• Jacob Ma
• May 9, 2016
• 3

Freshly hatched nymph.

Extatosoma tiaratum (Macleay's Spectre) L3 Silhouette - Female

• Jacob Ma
• May 9, 2016

Newly molted nymph. Notice the spines on the back indicating a female specimen.

Aretaon asperrimus L4 "drying" itself

• Jacob Ma
• May 9, 2016

Newly molted specimen

Aretaon asperrimus L4

• Jacob Ma
• May 9, 2016

Parapachymorpha zomproi (Thailand Beauty Stick Insect) L5

• Jacob Ma
• May 9, 2016

One of the longest insects in my collection! Few more molts until adulthood.

If I may ask, how do you typically get food for your stick/leaf insects? There is really no bramble or Eucalyptus in my area. Even then I'm scared of getting leaves with pesticide on it if I do find any. Do you buy the leaves? I've heard of some people buying Silver Drop Eucalyptus from flower shops.

 

[Toxoderidae]

...Yeah I wouldn't keep these if I were you.

 

[Jacob Ma]

Unless you're asking a question from me, you don't have to bring up an old subject.... I have started rearing Diapheromera femorata instead, so you guys can chill a bit.

@MaelRadec On your own risk, you can offer them wild bramble (blackberries or other related species, which most are abundant here in the US) or rose leaves, but you'll have to take the time to remove the spikes from the plant stems so you or your insects don't get impaled.

 

[Andrea82]

raspberry leaves work very well for my P.phillipinicum. luckily i have a big plant in my garden. oak is also recommended,haven’t tried that though.

 

[KevinsWither]

I kind of wish I had these but I'm not taking too much risks. Nice stick insects. As long as we can press Congress to get a bill pass to legalize some more invertebrates (but let the hotter states prohibt them (and by that I mean Florida maybe) then we will be fine. I have assassin bugs and mantids and for some reason, the USDA hasn't knocked on my door or even the doors of any commercial mantis breeder. Now, will these eat homegrown roses? Do you freeze the eggs when there are an excessive amount.

 

[Ratmosphere]

So rad! Where can I buy raspberry leaves to feed these guys?

 

[MaelRadec]

I kind of wish I had these but I'm not taking too much risks. Nice stick insects. As long as we can press Congress to get a bill pass to legalize some more invertebrates (but let the hotter states prohibt them (and by that I mean Florida maybe) then we will be fine. I have assassin bugs and mantids and for some reason, the USDA hasn't knocked on my door or even the doors of any commercial mantis breeder. Now, will these eat homegrown roses? Do you freeze the eggs when there are an excessive amount.

If i'm not mistaken, Assassin Bugs are only illegal to import. As for Mantids, I have no clue if they even enforce that anymore. I always see exotic mantids at reptile shows.

 

[Jacob Ma]

You can use homegrown roses, but there are some kinds of roses that they do and do not prefer, especially with the massive genetic variety there are out there. Evergreen roses were not a particular favorite among them, but ones with the glossier leaves seemed to be a favored one. Excess eggs were not killed, but were - disappeared - to a foreign land Still owe a few.

As for the raspberry, I did not buy seeds for it because I am blessed for having these wild spiky, ugly bramble bushes around my house. Even then, they still did not like to eat it as much as the roses.

 

[KevinsWither]

What species had the glossier leaves? I might grow those in an aquaponics system.