Tuesday, January 19, 2010

We've got babies! Sticks, that is.

Do you remember my stick bugs? Well, my 2nd generation of 18 or 19 baby sticks started laying their eggs in late October, so 9 or 10 weeks after that would be some time in December that I would expect I could have my first hatchlings....

This winter has not been a good one for the eggs. First of all, a number of them were attached to the top of the cage, rather than just dropped to the bottom of the cage. So I couldn't keep those ones moist. I tried removing a few, and they broke, so finally I left them there. I managed to round up maybe 15 to 20 and kept them in an open-lid container on a moist paper towel, within the main cage. But a number of them had gone mouldy, and I have even thrown a few away that looked too mouldy to be good anymore.

Today, when I was replacing the blackberry leaves, I was telling my daughter that I hope I will have a few hatch, so I can continue the cycle. Already, 2 females (the original Grandma & one of the Moms) and 1 male (original one or offspring, I don't know) have died.

Then my daughter pointed out that there were babies in the cage. Sure enough, there were 3 of them!  (And one of them had already escaped around the corner, and was on the outside of the cage! They all looked very newborn. Adorable. I was ecstatic. Here is a photo of two of the little darlings.


I can't wait to tell all the friends to whom I gave stick bugs, and my sister (who bought me the original pair of walking stick bugs), that they should watch out for babies arriving soon.

2 comments:

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Wow, these are cool! Do they gobble other indoor bugs? All of a sudden I'm seeing aphids everywhere...

Garden Lily said...

Kate - No, I understand that these guys are strictly vegetarian, and are quite restricted in their diet at that - either oak leaves or brambles (e.g. blackberries). Fortunately (or unfortunately!), I have lots of blackberries nearby, and the leaves are evergreen. So no help with your aphid problem - I'd suggest just squishing them.

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