Stick insect: amazing properties of an insect. Stick insect. Stick insect lifestyle and habitat Stick insects do not bite, but they are not defenseless

stick insect- amazing insect, it belongs to the order of ghosts. There are more than 2500 species of them. Outwardly, it resembles a stick or a leaf. You can verify this by looking at stick insect photo.

He also has a head with antennae; body covered with chitin; and long legs. The stick insect is recognized as the longest insect. The record holder lives on the island of Kalimantan: its length is 56 cm.

And on average, these insects are from 2 to 35 cm. Their color is brown or green. It can change under the influence of heat or light, but rather slowly. Special cells containing pigments are responsible for this.

Eyes are located on a small round head, by the way, stick insects have excellent vision, and oral apparatus gnawing type, capable of overpowering branches and hard veins of leaves.

The body is narrow or with a flattened abdomen. The legs are covered with spikes or spines and look like stilted sticks. They end with suction cups and hooks that secrete a sticky liquid.

The stick insect can move quickly using this, even on a glass wall. Some species have wings that allow them to fly or glide.

These amazing stick insects live in the tropics and subtropics near fresh water. Most of all they love thickets of succulent shrubs. Although there are exceptions, the Ussuri stick insect can also be found on Far East Russia, the Caucasus and the mountains Central Asia.

The nature and lifestyle of the stick insect

stick insects are masters of phytomimicry, but simply of disguise. If he sits on a branch in bushes or trees, it is simply impossible to find him. Thanks to its body shape, stick insect looks like a branch.

But his enemies react to movement, so he also has thanatosis. At the same time, he falls into a stupor and can be in the most bizarre and unnatural position of a very long time.

Disguised as a stick insect, it can be in the most bizarre and uncomfortable positions for a long time.

Stick insects begin their movement at night, but even then they do not forget the precautions. They cannot be called nimble insects. Very slowly and smoothly, dying at every rustle, they move along the branches, eating juicy foliage.

This is a fairly large non-flying insect 12 cm long and one and a half wide. Now, having artificially propagated the population, they have allocated a whole island as a reserve, having previously destroyed all enemies.

Stick insects are the most large group ghost order (there are approximately 2500 of their species). At first, entomologists drew attention to the unusual rod-shaped form of insects, and then found out that stick insects have many other advantages. Extremely interesting not only appearance but also biology and behavior.

Classification

• Type: Arthropod
• Subtype: Tracheal breathing
• Class: Insects
• Order: Phasmatodea
• Families: Heteronemiidae;Phasmatidae; Bacilliidae.

Habitat of stick insects

Stick insects live in all areas of the tropical and temperate climate and eat leaves angiosperms. Their population, morphological and ecological features directly depend on the type of angiosperms that serve them as food.

The art of disguising yourself as a wand is useless if there are no plants around. So stick insects live only in places with more or less dense vegetation.

Main habitats: rainforests, mediterranean forests, scrub, eucalyptus forests.

So, the American stray stick insect Megaphasma dentricus - the longest (11 cm) insect lives in the forests and bushes of the United States.

The French stick insect Clonopsis gallica lives both in forests and in arid scrublands of .ha Europe. This rare species is not picky about humidity. environment. Females are much more common than males and reach 7 cm in length.

The Titan stick insect Acrophylia titan is the largest of the Australian stick insects. Females of this species reach a length of 25 cm, which is about 2 times more than males.

Today, the habitat of many species of stick insects is expanding significantly due to their active breeding by humans.

Appearance and structure of stick insects

Big or small, brown or green, with long or short antennae, with or without spikes… The variety of stick insects is amazing! But no matter how the stick insect disguises itself, it will still look like a long thin twig.

The body of stick insects is divided into three main sections - the head, chest and abdomen. The size of the head in relation to the body is small. As a rule, it has a slightly oblong, forward-looking shape and a rounded front. In this part, antennae begin, the length of which varies depending on the species. In some species, the antennae consist of only eight segments, in others their number reaches hundreds. Moreover, the length of the antennae is variable, even among members of the same species. Males usually have much longer antennae than females. Behind the base of the antennae on the sides of the head are two not very large compound eyes. The oral apparatus is located in the lower part of the head and is equipped with not too powerful jaws. However, their strength is enough to grind the leaves that these insects feed on. Next to the upper jaws (mandibles) are the lower jaws (maxillas), which are also actively involved in the capture and chewing of food. Thoracic, which has an elongated shape in most species, is formed by three segments: prothorax, mesothorax and metothorax.

The body of stick insects is equipped with three pairs of legs. The legs are thin and rather long, especially the third pair. Some species have powerful spines on their legs, which not only help to camouflage, but also serve as protection.

The abdomen has an oblong shape, the segments forming it are clearly distinguishable. At the end of the abdomen there is a pair of cerci, small sensory appendages. The abdomen of females is usually larger than the abdomen of males, which is associated with a more strongly developed female reproductive apparatus.

By the end of the abdomen, males can be distinguished from females. In the former, it ends in a hook-shaped outgrowth, called the vomer, with which males cling to the genital appendages of females, thereby ensuring the transfer of the spermatophore during mating. Females have an ovipositor at the end of the abdomen.

Lifestyle of stick insects

The life of stick insects is closely connected with angiosperms, which serve them both as food and shelter. Scientists believe that stick insects appeared in the Eocene, about 50 million years ago, filling the ecological niche formed with the spread of angiosperms. The morphology and biology of stick insects has not changed much since then, since these insects were perfectly adapted to their lifestyle from the very beginning.

These peaceful insects most days are spent among the branches and leaves of plants, feeding on them. Striking allows them to go unnoticed by predators.

Stick insects are insects with incomplete transformation. It means that a nymph hatches from the egg - a larva that looks like an adult insect, only small, and leading a lifestyle similar to its parents. P the transformation of the larva into an adult occurs through a series of molts. An adult sexually mature insect is called an imago. After a series of lines, the nymph turns into an imago. Stick insect larvae molt 5-6, sometimes 7 times, and males of some species have one less molt. This leads to the fact that the sex ratio shifts sharply towards the predominance of females.

Most stick insects live for about a year or more.

What's for lunch?

Leaves of angiosperms are the only food of stick insects. Although these insects eat most of the day, threats to Agriculture they don't represent. This is due to the low number of stick insects and the small amount of food they consume.

reproduction

During mating, the male holds the female with his legs and a special appendage located at the end of the abdomen. Fertilization in representatives of this systematic group of insects is internal.

The eggs laid by the female stick insect are oblong in shape and enclosed in a special capsule with a complex external sculpture. They look like plant seeds and are deposited singly, and more often randomly scattered. Female stick insects cannot lay their eggs inside any substrate, since their ovipositor is poorly chitinized.

In some species, females are able to lay eggs that develop without fertilization.

In contact with

But if someone is not interested in who lives in conditions wildlife, the fact that in the house of your friend or acquaintance a very unusual and peculiar a pet cannot leave anyone indifferent.

AT recent times people strive to have something special, artsy and most importantly, not the same as everyone else. And if a few years ago these unique possessions were manifested by the purchase of new models mobile phones, expensive cars or a pair of shoes from world famous designers, today a person is trying to emphasize his individuality and spontaneity with the help of exotic pets.

Coming to visit someone, no one experiences terrible delight at the sight of a dog rare breed or a kitten blue blood, in the era of modernity, a tarantula, a snake or even a hippopotamus are already animals that are kept as man's best friends. And the more expensive and unusual the animal - the better, cooler and more status.

But there are also such specimens in our nature that are not expensive, but no one knew about them before. For example, the stick beetle. It's unearthly, it seems even alien creature, one of its appearance fascinates. Among all the inhabitants of our planet, it is probably impossible to find someone like him.

People of these insects are increasingly bringing and settling in their homes, they deserve such popularity and demand not only for their originality and originality of appearance, but also for their calm and unpretentious disposition and amazing behavior.

If you are in a dilemma and cannot make a choice in favor of one or the other pet, and insects are one of the candidates for your friends, be sure to pay attention to the stick insect. Getting to know him better, perhaps you will understand that this is exactly the one you have been looking for for so long.

Stick insect origin and native habitats

Stick insect (lat. Phyllium giganteum) is an amazing insect, entomologists have been researching for many decades in a row, extracting new facts about them and discovering new species. According to some sources, the beginning of research on this original bug falls on 1902, and the last entry is dated 2013. Although it is impossible to reliably confirm this information, because even Carl Linnaeus in his first scientific classification animals mentioned these creations of nature, which means that these insects inhabited our planet a long time ago, we just didn’t know anything about them. What is the reason for such a long study of the arthropod, no one knows, either there is little data on it, or people of science work slowly, or are these peculiar creatures so mysterious?

The stick insect arouses such an increased interest in his person not only with his original outer shell, but with the parameters of his body, because according to the opinion and research of many scholars, it is the stick insect that is the most large insects in the world. Entomologists found the longest stick beetle in the jungle in the state of Sabah, which is located in Malaysia, the body size of this giant was over 52 cm.

A little later, in 1989, another champion among long stick insect arthropods was found on the island of Kalimantan, his body, not taking into account the length of the limbs, grew to 36 cm. No one has known where this giant was kept for many years. Only in 2008, this unique specimen was transferred to the collection of the Natural History Museum, which is located in the capital of Great Britain. After such universal fame and notoriety, the scientist Philip Bragg described the stick insect as completely the new kind insects.

Stick insect, leafworm, horror story or Chan's mega stick insect are all names of the same representative of the insect class and the ghost order. Their name comes from ancient Greek, which in translation into Russian means "ghost", "phantom" or "ghost".

The natural distribution of these fabulous insects is quite wide, they are under conditions open nature it seems possible to meet in India, South America, Australia and even in Europe. Although some literary sources claim that the United States is the homeland of these bugs, they simply gradually emigrated to all other countries and continents.

These insects can feel very comfortable and cozy, both in the tropics and subtropics, and in ordinary deciduous forests and among the bushes, the main thing for them is to have a way to disguise themselves from their natural enemies and pests. And they already know how to hide like no one else.

Not quite mine common name“Stick insects” - these beetles got due to their appearance, which is really very reminiscent of an ordinary branch of a tree or bush, if you don’t look very carefully, then not everyone will be able to see a living creature in such a stick.

It is also said that people used to consider stick beetles to be rather dangerous representatives kingdoms of animals and were very afraid of meeting with them. These fears and fears have nothing to do with the fact that these cute arthropods can cause some harm to human health, bite or sprinkle with poison, the thing is that they really were considered supernatural beings, such as demons or evil ghosts that came to their territory from the very, that neither is, the underworld.

Indeed, people in old times were not very educated and did not have the opportunity to read on the Internet about this or that strange creature that they met on their way. Just imagine that a person wanders through the forest and, seeing a beautiful leaf or unusual shape branch, decides to pick it up, and for no reason, for no reason, it comes to life and begins to move. Or he simply sees how a twig with eyes flies and flaps its wings, you see - not a very familiar sight.

When a person got to know this magical creature a little, he stopped being afraid of him, but he still tried to avoid meeting with a stick insect, because later a legend began to circulate among the people that after such a not very pleasant collision in the family of this person, it was necessary something bad must happen.

Features of the behavior of the stick insect in open nature

For the reason that these, one might say, space bugs are not quite studied inhabitants of the planet Earth, then information about how they while away their days in open environment not so much. Absolutely all stick insects by nature have one unusual property - they are just champions in disguise, not a single living creature can hide from predators like they do - this is a kind of art. After all, the bugs can go unnoticed, conveniently located in the most prominent place, namely on the surface of the sheet, or firmly clinging to some branch.

This is accompanied by a characteristic appearance, well, possession special kind adaptive properties, which is called "wax flexibility" or scientifically - catalepsy. When an animal enters a cataleptic state, it is able to bend its body and limbs into the most unusual and unnatural positions. Having taken this position, the stick insect can remain in it for several hours, while experiencing absolutely no negative sensations.

The exit of the bug from such a state depends only on its central nervous system, even in cases of injury to the paw or abdomen, the arthropod will remain motionless. In the event that the danger caught the stick insect by surprise, and he failed to take his safe and inconspicuous position, then this trickster can easily fall to the ground, pretending to be dead, while, indeed, not showing any signs of life.

These representatives interesting squad ghosts are led strictly night image life, by their nature they are very neat and prudent, therefore, throughout the daylight hours, they try to live among the leaves of trees, shoots and branches. And with the onset of twilight, they are already beginning to gather in search of food. As feed, they choose for themselves food only of plant origin.

Stick insects are oviparous species. At the end of a long mating process, the females lay eggs that are not very small, about 7–9 mm, on the one hand they have a hole (micropyle), where the seminal fluid of the male stick insect enters, and on the other, a kind of lid (operculum), opening which larvae are born. In appearance, ghost eggs are often confused with plant seeds or with the droppings of other insects.

For the successful birth of babies, environmental conditions are very important, among which air humidity plays a leading role, it should not be less than 65–75%, under inappropriate environmental conditions, these bugs can die on different stages development. On average, the development of larvae and eggs continues for three months of each phase, the same period is the duration life cycle imago (adult stage).

In general, in nature, there are two ways of reproduction of stick insects - this is sexual reproduction and parthenogenesis, among them the second prevails, for the reason that there are quite a few male stick insects, because as a result of the development of the embryo in an unfertilized egg, exclusively female individuals are born.

Insect varieties

In nature, there are a fairly large number of a wide variety of stick insects, some of them are presented to your attention.

1. Cordillera stick insect. From mother nature, this representative of a kind got a very spectacular and extraordinary appearance. The color of this specimen consists of several colors: the main tone is black, with a slight silvery tint, somewhat reminiscent of the color of resin, you can also notice a certain velvety and a small “pubescence” on the main background of the golden color scheme. The eyes are golden in color and, as if tinted with lipstick, a bright red mouth. In its structure, it has two pairs of wings - upper and lower. The first ones are decorated with nature in white and black tones, and the lower ones are rich red in color. On the muzzle of the beetle, yellow-black antennae stand out well. Due to its outstanding appearance, in many sources you can find a Cordillera stick insect called the black beauty.
2. Indian stickman. Based on its name, it is already possible to draw absolutely accurate conclusions about the homeland of this creature. This type differs from its relatives in relatively small body length, but at the same time they are quite thick and well-fed. The body length of the Indian beetle averages from 7 to 9.5 cm, there is evidence that females are slightly larger than males. The color varies from dark brown to gray-green tones. The whole body of this insect is decorated with dark spots.
3. Spiny stick. He is a native of Vietnam, he first arrived in Russia only in 1999. This species is one of the few that continue their small genus only through sexual reproduction. The insect got its original name due to the fact that its body is decorated with some spikes along the edges.
4. Giant stick insect. This amazing creature inhabits various trees and shrubs of distant Australia. Among all relatives, it is famous for the dimensions of its body; it can grow from 15 to 20 cm in length. Sexual dimorphism in this species is represented not only by body size, but also by color. Females are brown-greenish with a small white spot on the front pair of wings, while males are brown with only a few greenish dots on the chest.
5. American striped stick insect. This is a native wingless resident of the United States, whose body is painted in jet black, against which several pink-yellow stripes are vertically placed. Keeping such a pet at home is possible only for people with an uncomplicated allergic history, for the reason that in the structure of this beetle there are protective glands on the front of the chest that can “shoot” a secret when the insect feels a certain level of danger.
6. Giant Caribbean stick insect. This inhabitant of the islands of the Caribbean also has a number of features. Firstly, these are its rather large dimensions, the length of its body is on average 10–15 cm, but this is not the main thing. Unlike all other ghost species, it is the males of the Caribbean stick insect that can fly very well. But nature did not endow females with either the art of flight or real wings. These arthropods are painted in green-brown shades, their wings are almost transparent only with a slightly pinkish tint, the elytra are brown, painted with white lines.

Keeping a stick insect at home

If you have a strong desire to have a small living companion in your house, but do not have time to walk with him, play and give him a lot of attention - get yourself an exotic stick insect. Of course, he will never bring you slippers, and will not purr at your side, but with his originality he will always delight your eyes.

The main guarantee of successful and comfortable living of such an insect in your home is the right housing for it. As a personal home for a bug, insectariums are usually purchased at pet stores, it would seem that nowhere is easier - you go, buy it, and that's it. But there is one caveat: on average, one stick insect needs an insectarium volume of 2-3 liters, even if one individual of the stick insect sits in some jar in your apartment, do not rush to buy him a house counting only on him. After all, we must not forget that these arthropods can reproduce alone.

Equally important is the maintenance of a constant optimum temperature within 25–27 degrees and air humidity in the range of 65–80%. As a heating device, it is best to use a thermal cord, only it is recommended to attach it so that your pet cannot climb on it and get burned.

It will be good to decorate the home insectarium with various branches and snags, this will help your bug quickly get used to the new conditions, and even feel at home.

As for feeding this amazing pet, this is not a problem at all. In order to feed your tenant in warm time years - you can bring tree branches with young leaves or just grass to his house. In winter, try offering a few leaves of house plants to the stick insect, just make sure they are not poisonous.

Buying a stick beetle

Among modern people now there are a large number of insect lovers, as domestic "animals", including stick insects, so buy this sweet creature It's not hard at all, and it's not expensive either. average cost one individual of such an exotic is from 200 to 1000 rubles.

For more information about the Annam and New Guinea spiny stick insects, watch this video:

Do you know that the animal world has its own almost mystical creatures? Today on our site stick insect is a ghost insect. Moreover, he received this status in a completely scientific way.

The terrestrial fauna is amazing and diverse. But has anyone heard that our nature is haunted? Not? But scientists know these creatures very well, it was the fauna researchers who came up with the name for one of the orders of the insect class. This detachment is called - ghosts. And the representative of these strange creatures is an arthropod insect called the stick insect.

ghost leaflet

How did this insect deserve its name and does it really have such an unusual and inconspicuous appearance?

Stick insects are arranged very in an interesting way. Of course, they cannot be called handsome, but there is no doubt that these insects deserve the title of “the most amazing”! The head of the insect has a spherical shape and a very small size - looking at the stick insect, it is almost impossible to notice. The body is elongated, like the rest of the limbs. Each part of the body of this animal is more like a small twig. Therefore, being on a plant, these insects become invisible.

Some species of the ghost order have a leaf-shaped body, which, against the background of vegetation, is also a disguise.

The body length of this insect, on average, is from 5 to 20 centimeters. But there are subspecies of this animal, whose body length is 30 - 35 centimeters, and there are those that are called dwarf stick insects - they are only 2 centimeters long.

The body color is green or brown. In general, everything in this insect is arranged in such a way as to disguise itself as a plant and go unnoticed. This natural property in animals is called photomimicry.

Where does the insect called "stick insect" live?

On our planet, these animals choose tropical or subtropical natural areas. They can be found in India, Australia, countries South America and even in some parts of Europe.

What kind of lifestyle does this animal lead?

Stick insects are very calm, sedentary and non-aggressive insects. Leaving the chase, they are able to run very fast, however, if no one and nothing disturbs this creature, then it prefers to sit motionless on a branch or just move very slowly in search of the next portion of food.

What does the "invisible" insect eat?

Stick insects are exclusively herbivorous. From food, they prefer leguminous plants (acacia), hibiscus, plants of the Rosaceae and Mimosa families. Sometimes they feast on the fruits of fruit trees or vegetables.

A feature of this insect is its constant need for food, if the stick insect does not eat for at least one day, then it may die! Therefore, his life turns into an endless search for food.

Reproduction of stick insects. How does it happen, and what is its distinguishing feature?

There are females among the stick insects. Which can breed without the participation of males, but this does not apply to the entire detachment.

Fertilization in stick insects is internal. After mating, the female, after some time, lays eggs. A month later, stick insect larvae emerge from the eggs.

The larvae are very similar to adults in appearance. The difference is only in size. This stage of development of the stick insect is called the "nymph".

After some time, the nymph begins to intensively molt repeatedly, after which it turns into a fully grown individual, called the "imago".

The lifespan of an adult stick insect is 3 - 10 months, not for long! Very rarely there were cases when this insect lived for a year or more.

In nature, there are many outlandish representatives of the animal and flora. Each of them surprises us in their own way. Nature does not skimp on surprises. One of these unique curiosities is considered stick insect.

This is characteristic in that it can simply merge with the environment in which it lives. This phenomenon in scientific circles is called phytomimicry. Translated from Greek, this word means a living imitative creature.

Who will imitate stick insect depends primarily on the place of its permanent residence. It can merge with nature in such a way, take, for example, all the shapes and colors of a stick on a tree, that it will simply be impossible to see it.

There are such types of stick insects, and there are a total of about 2,500 species that simply cannot be seen against the background of the bark or foliage of trees. Incredible amazing ability insects have long attracted people.

Feature and habitat

These unique insects prefer to live in the tropics and subtropics. They like dense shrubbery, small lawns with tall grasses, woodlands. An important condition for them is a good and fairly humid environment.

They are found in India, South America, Australia, and European countries. Length stick insect depends on habitat and species. It can vary between 2 - 35 cm. There are also giant stick insects, which are even longer.

The color of insects is dominated by brown and green tones. Each species has a different shape. body shape of stick insects, which live on the branches of trees of thin and long construction.

They have a head, inconspicuous and not conspicuous, an elongated body and long limbs. Both in real life and a photo such stick insect difficult to distinguish from a branch. Insects living among the foliage have the same wide and green body.

All types of stick insects have a structure similar to all insects with a head, chest, abdomen, antennae and legs. About the oral apparatus of the insect, it can be noted that it has a gnawing type. Its skin is composed of a hard chitinous layer. This layer covers the cells of the hypodermis, with the pigment contained in them.

Thanks to these pigments, the body of the insect acquires one or another color necessary for it. The color change can be affected by the most various factors. For example, abrupt change temperature regime or lighting can provide the impetus for this.

True, this process takes place in slow motion. Some stick insects are also equipped with wings and elytra. But in flight, almost all of them are not particularly strong. There are such species of these insects in which spikes are observed on the body.

Another amazing and unusual feature stick insects is the fact that there are approximately 4,000 females per male in nature, which are much bigger sizes.

Why are there such serious deviations from the usual norm for all of us? The fact is that female stick insects are able to lay eggs without males, which in the scientific community is called parthenogenesis. An interesting fact is that from eggs resembling a flask, laid by one female into the world, only those similar to her are obtained.

The stick insect still has many secrets unknown to people. This insect is still on the verge of being studied. In another way, the insect is called a ghost, ghost, or phantom.

There are some of their species, which it is difficult for us to understand to this day. stick insects pipe makers, for example, they try to stay in colonies. They hold on to each other with the help of limbs and build something like suspension bridges from their bodies. Other species of these insects prefer to live in the formed tubers.

There are those who, in order to scare the enemy, release unpleasant odors, or even begin to regurgitate food, thereby trying to disgust the enemy.

Very popular among lovers of strange pets are currently enjoying annam stick insects. In their appearance, they are very reminiscent of a green twig. They are kept in special containers.

For their good development and further reproduction, proper and nutritious nutrition is important. Generally house sticks - it is not only one of the most outlandish creations of nature. They are one of the most picky pets.

The nature and lifestyle of the stick insect

Information about stick insects so little that about how they spend their everyday life little is known. By nature, these creatures are excellent camouflage. No one in the world can do it the way they can do it. In all seriousness, they can be called champions of disguises.

They are able to do this not only because their appearance allows them, but also because they have catalepsy, which is characterized by amazing flexibility. Thanks to this gift, the insect has the ability to bend its body to the most unnatural and incomprehensible positions for the human mind.

Another of their super qualities is the ability to freeze for a long time in one of these positions. The stick insect is in a state of catalepsy for several hours. This does not affect his well-being in any way and does not create inconvenience.

An insect can get out of such a trance under certain circumstances. But it has been noticed more than once that even injuries cannot make them move and betray their presence in some way.

If the stick insect is in real danger and he was not prepared for it, he falls dead to the ground and pretends to be dead. He remains in this position until the danger has passed.

There are times when they lose one of their limbs to save themselves. They experience this loss absolutely painlessly. Moreover, there are such species of stick insects in which a new limb is able to grow.

These nocturnal inhabitants in the daytime, avoiding all sorts of unpleasant moments in life, try to sit quietly, merging completely with external environment. As soon as dusk comes, stick insects come out to fish for food.

Recently, people have more and more desire to have some kind of curiosity at home. Stick insect at home is one of those wonders. It is important for those who want to know buy a stick insect, that it is undesirable to take this fragile creature by hand.

You should also not touch his sensitive back, which in some species may be decorated with sharp spikes. To move the insect, you can simply use a pencil or paint brush. He is not cowardly. He can sit and move comfortably human hand.

Generally stick insect content is not difficult and does not require large expenditures. But the person who has it at home is considered the owner of perhaps one of the strangest and most interesting curiosities in the world.

Nutrition

All types of stick insects prefer to eat plant foods. Leaves of trees and shrubs are their favorite delicacy. Each species has its own preferences in this food.

For food, they choose a safe night time for themselves. But even at night they cannot be completely safe. Therefore, caution is paramount for them at this time.

They prefer to search for provisions for themselves alone. But there are species among them that do it in large flocks and can disfigure a whole tree in one night.

For domestic stick insects, the presence of greenery is important all year round. Therefore, breeders have to take care of this. They keep food frozen and feed it to their pets every day. In the event that stocks are running out, you can try to feed the stick insect with a leaf of hibiscus or tradescantia, they will not refuse such food.

Reproduction and lifespan

Insects go through several molts in their entire life. After the last of them, the female has the ability to bear fruit. The offspring is the result asexual reproduction, which is fraught with the appearance a large number females.

In order for their species not to disappear, there must be at least some possibility of fertilization with the help of males. This happens sometimes. After that, the male, having fertilized the partner, transfers the spermatophore to her.

From this method of reproduction, heterosexual young individuals are born, main goal which at first is gluttony. They strive to get to food as quickly as possible. The life span of these amazing insects no more than a year.