Northern Walking Stick Eggs! Any tips?

[The Lavender Phasmid]

Hello Everyone,
I recently acquired a pair of Northern Walkingsticks (Diapheromera femorata) and have set them up in a small glass insect enclosure with a screen lid and a constant supply of fresh oak branches which are sprayed nightly. Within the first day of observing them the female had already dropped several eggs and begun mating! My question for the community is does anyone have any experience keeping these specific phasmids? I'm trying to find out what to do with the eggs and have read they naturally they could take up to two years to hatch. Is there any special procedure to encourage this native insect to hatch? I've heard that freezing the eggs could help but I want to make sure I won't be damaging my precious eggs. Any other tips on keeping my new pets healthy would be greatly appreciated.

 

[The Mantis Menagerie]

Hello Everyone,
I recently acquired a pair of Northern Walkingsticks (Diapheromera femorata) and have set them up in a small glass insect enclosure with a screen lid and a constant supply of fresh oak branches which are sprayed nightly. Within the first day of observing them the female had already dropped several eggs and begun mating! My question for the community is does anyone have any experience keeping these specific phasmids? I'm trying to find out what to do with the eggs and have read they naturally they could take up to two years to hatch. Is there any special procedure to encourage this native insect to hatch? I've heard that freezing the eggs could help but I want to make sure I won't be damaging my precious eggs. Any other tips on keeping my new pets healthy would be greatly appreciated.

Maybe refrigeration, but not freezing. Being a temperate species, a cool period would likely be beneficial.

 

[The Lavender Phasmid]

How long would you recommend refrigeration? Would you recommend using damp moss or sand as a substrate during this period? Thank you so much for your help!

 

[mantisfan101]

Damp paper towels will suffice. Congrats on finding these guys, where'd you find them?

 

[The Lavender Phasmid]

My fiance's mother actually found them here in Northern Wisconsin right outside of Rice Lake. I couldn't believe she found a male! She lives in an oak stand so apparently they show up now and again.

 

[Dry Desert]

My fiance's mother actually found them here in Northern Wisconsin right outside of Rice Lake. I couldn't believe she found a male! She lives in an oak stand so apparently they show up now and again.

Hi, your D.femorata have a very short life span of only 3/4 months, however the eggs only take 2/3 weeks to hatch.Keep them at room temperature in dry conditions, and feed adults on oak, rose or bramble. Good luck.

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

The eggs don’t take 2-3 weeks to hatch, they typically overwinter and hatch in early summer next year. I’ve never heard of any phasmid egg that can hatch in 2-3 weeks except maybe Carausius morosus.

I would keep them somewhat humid and cool until spring.

When baby northern walkingsticks hatch, they often prefer hazelnut, locust or black cherry leaves while small and move on to oak leaves as they grow larger.

 

[Dry Desert]

The eggs don’t take 2-3 weeks to hatch, they typically overwinter and hatch in early summer next year. I’ve never heard of any phasmid egg that can hatch in 2-3 weeks except maybe Carausius morosus.

I would keep them somewhat humid and cool until spring.

When baby northern walkingsticks hatch, they often prefer hazelnut, locust or black cherry leaves while small and move on to oak leaves as they grow larger.

We are talking Captive conditions - Doughnut - what happens on the freezing forest floor in northern north America/ Canada has no bearing on captive conditions. There again you can always tell Ronald N. Baxter he is talking out of his backside.

 

[Jesse607]

We are talking Captive conditions - Doughnut - what happens on the freezing forest floor in northern north America/ Canada has no bearing on captive conditions. There again you can always tell Ronald N. Baxter he is talking out of his backside.

Can you clarify, have you witnessed this from personal experience? I've not personally known anyone to have any luck hatching them out that quickly, seems they needed a winter diapause in order to even hatch at all...but that is just based on limited anecdotal evidence.

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

We are talking Captive conditions - Doughnut - what happens on the freezing forest floor in northern north America/ Canada has no bearing on captive conditions. There again you can always tell Ronald N. Baxter he is talking out of his backside.

I have raised northern walkingsticks and never had eggs hatch without a cold period. Leaving them in soil substrate at the bottom of the adult's cage, indoors has never yielded nymphs for me. Maybe my egg husbrandry was off, but temperate insects refusing to develop in winter even when kept warm is very common.

D. femorata and similar species have a wide range, maybe populations from areas that are warm and humid year round are different.