Walkingstick ID?

[Joanie]

I just got 7 walkingsticks (given away from a small nature center) and I'm trying to ID them and hitting a brick wall.

The biggest is about 4-5" long, the others are all between 1" and 4". They're all brown, no sign of wings, SHORT antenna, but they hold their first pair of legs forward as if they were antenna. I can give more details if you need them, but I don't have one of the bugs in front of me right now.

They've been eating romaine lettuce without any problems. They're supposedly a native species (I'm in Wisconsin) but all the native species I'm aware of have very long antenna.

Any ideas would be helpful!

Thanks--

 

[Wade]

Joanie-

They sound alot like some very common ones I find in Arizona. Short antenna, and when they hold their legs out front, they really look like a sick, or a bit of dead grass. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find my phasmid book, so I can't get you a name. Yours may not be the same species, but I'd bet they're the same genus.

Wade

 

[Joanie]

Hey Wade, what phasmid book do you have? And would you recommend it?

If I got myself a decent phasmid book I could solve this problem more easily....

 

[Elytra and Antenna]

Hello Joanie,
Check the internet for pictures of Meduaroidea extradentatum or Baculum extradentatum (same species). That is very likely what you have. A lot of nature centers and hobbyists have that one. None of the natives will touch Romaine.
Good luck!

 

[Wade]

Originally posted by Joanie
Hey Wade, what phasmid book do you have? And would you recommend it?

The book I have is "Rearing and Studying Stick and Leaf Insects" by Paul D. Brock. It's published by the Amateur Entomologists' Society (a British organization). I got it fom BioQuip for $13. I'd say it's probably a good book if you already know the species and you want to know some husbandry information, as they list alot of commonly cultured species. For ID'ing species, it's probably not as useful.

It seems to be a pretty good book to me, but I don't have much experience with phasmids, so I'm not a good judge. Exotics are illegal without a permit, and I haven't been able to collect enough natives to get a culture going.

Parabacillus hesperus is the Arizona species I was refering to, but it turns out it's not in the book (I had to call a friend to get the name). They're supposed to be pretty picky about what they'll feed on. I think MantidAssasin is probably right.

Wade

 

[Joanie]

Thanks!

THANKS to both of you-- MantidAssasin, I checked out some pictures and descriptions of B. extradentatum and they match my sticks really well; I think you're right about that being what I have. And Wade, thanks for the info on the book--I haven't kept stick insects before and I may need to pick up the book.

I also need to inform my bosses that we need a permit for these stick insects. Ha! I was pretty sure they weren't native to the northern US, and now I find out they're not native to the US at all!

Thanks again--