Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Stick Bug Unsuccessful Hatching

In the couple of years I've been keeping stick bugs, I have had a lot of babies hatch, but have not been able to witness any hatchings - until a couple of days ago.  Or sort of.  I saw a stick in the bottom of the cage, which looks like it had a failed attempt at hatching (I've had a couple of those).  But as I reached to remove it from the cage, it moved slightly.

I gently picked it up, and took it into the kitchen, to watch it more closely, as it attempted to free itself from the egg capsule.


At first it looked like it was pushing with its front legs, to free its tail from the egg.  Then as time went on, I realized that the front legs were also helplessly attached to the egg, and only the middle two legs were functioning normally.  One of the back legs were broken off (perhaps by my picking it up the first time).

It struggled valiantly for a number of hours.  Finally I tried to help pull off the egg capsule, which came off but left behind an unidentified clearish white material, in which the 4 legs were firmly and hopelessly attached.  Unfortunately I managed to also break off on of the good legs, in the process.  So the situation was pretty bleak.  Without legs, this little guy would have no means of survival.  I tried to console him that evening with a moistened blackberry leaf, but while his mouth parts moved a bit in response to the leaf, he didn't make any noticeable attempt to chew it.  In the morning, he was dead.

Poor little thing.  It was sad to see him in that predicament, and not be able to help.  But at the same time it was neat to get a little glimpse into the hatching process, even if an unsuccessful one.  I still hope one day to witness a successful hatching.

7 comments:

Dorothy said...

We have some of those that live on our back porch, but I'm not fond of them. I just leave them alone. I don't know anything about them, but they are creepy to me.

joey said...

Aw, an interesting/sad story but you did as best as you could.

Shady Gardener said...

This is a sad story... but have you had other walking sticks survive?

Garden Lily said...

Shady - Yes, sad story, but I probably have some 30 - 40 stick bugs at the moment, so for the most part, they are surviving and thriving.

Shady Gardener said...

Another question: If you're having snow, etc. when will you be able to release these fellows? And what are you feeding them??

Garden Lily said...

Shady - I bought them from a breeder, and keep them year-round, as "pets". I've had them about 2 years now, and am on my 3rd or 4th generation. I don't think they occur naturally in the "wild" in the Vancouver area, although I've had readers from Toronto note that they occur there. They eat blackberry leaves, which are easy to find here, even in winter.

Garden Lily said...

Gosh, I just cleaned the cage and counted 158 of them! I'd better start finding homes for them! I think I'll revive my posting on Craigslist.

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