Friday, June 12, 2009

Another Baby Stick Bug

Today I found a fifth baby stick bug on the side of the cage (the other 4 already being on the blackberry branch). What surprises me is the relatively large size when they are first born. Here he is on my pinky finger:
Newly born walking stick bug
Sure, he looks small, but in comparison to the size of the egg , the stick bug's body is much more than twice the length of the egg, not to mention its long legs! See photo below, where the brown egg is on the leaf, the newborn stick bug is on the edge of the leaf, and a 3+ wk old baby is to the left of it:
Baby stick bugs and stick bug egg
How does he fit inside the egg before he hatches out? I would be really curious to see one hatching, to find out how it manages to unfold or lengthen itself as or after it comes out.

By the way, the upward curl in the stick bug's tail indicates that the stick bug is agitated. In this case, I had just moved it to the leaf for the photo. Once it settles, it straightens its tail.

7 comments:

Garden Lily said...

Hurray! I found #6 this morning.

Garden Lily said...

Yippee! 2 more now, to make 8!

Pam/Digging said...

How interesting. I've never seen a baby walking stick before. It would be fascinating to see one hatch.

Garden Lily said...

Pam - Yes, I check on them a number of times each day, hoping to one day see one hatching. I think it would be very fascinating.

Garden Lily said...

Hurray! 10 now! I find the new ones on the side of the cage, usually in the morning. It is getting harder to count them now, and will be much more tricky cleaning the cage!

Garden Lily said...

When I cleaned the cage, and replaced the blackberry branches the other day, I counted 11 plus the original male. But I see a little one on the glass this morning, and suspect it's 12 now.

Garden Lily said...

It is getting harder each time to count, but today I count 18 + the original male. Some of them are getting large enough to give them to friends, I think.

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