Are there any stick insects that are legal in the US?

[Wendi bnkywuv]

Hello. I am looking into getting some stick insects, only to find that many of them on various websites are illegal in US territories. I've seen some users on here posted that they own northern walking sticks and other native species, are they wild caught or captive bred? How would I go about obtaining a legal species?

Any assistance would be highly appreciated!

 

[somebugnerd]

As far as I know, only species native to and collected in your home state are legal. Even with species native to the US, transporting them between states requires permits. In the northwest we have Parabacillus hesperus, in the southeast there are Anisomorpha buprestoides and Diapheromera femorata, and there are a few other species in different parts of the country. I have not kept them myself, so I am not a good source of information. Probably the best place to start is checking inaturalist.org to see what lives near you and researching diet/care information for those species. Good luck!

 

[Ultum4Spiderz]

I used to see stick insects in the woods in Ohio. I never see them in the city.

 

[Matts inverts]

If a stick insect is native or found due to invasive reasons, the species is generally legal to keep if collected in the state. Federal laws bans imports, especially on tropical species and forest species that can become overwhelming invasive. From a pet standpoint, you can still purchase many species over legal market because the import and export laws are almost always overlooked and are rarely enforced. Reptile shops and other shops will sometimes buy off a legal importer or through another collector, but most are unaware of the laws or just don’t care. Most of the time, it will list if a species is captive bred or “field collected”. Best chance is to catch one, or look to see if any shops around got one. Shows like reptile shows often have exotic species or hard to find species. Online shops sometimes have native species if you are looking them up specifically. If you got many roses or blackberries or other bramble, it may help to look around that or in a forest or park near you.