Phasmids Keepers here?

Bungholio · Nov 8, 2006

I´m wondering if here are some Phasmid keepers? Very interesting insects with amazing anatomy. At the moment I´m thinking how to start with these insects.

Tleilaxu · Nov 8, 2006

In Europe your fine to ask questions about who has these bugs but in the US keep your heads down and mouths shut. As we have seen the USDA (sometimes without warrents) seize peoples bugs and detsroyed them.

Ganoderma · Nov 9, 2006

My last one just died. i used to keep some in canada, vietnam prickly, giant prickly PSG #10 etc. the more common ones, truely amazing bugs! i am looking into geting some here in taiwan, especially leaf insects. amazing!

Randolph XX() · Nov 9, 2006

hey kyle
there are a lot native sp of stick bugs in Tw(some huge!like Phasmotaenia lanyuhensis from orchid isalnd can grow to a foot long),there is one protected（Megacrania tsudai）
no native leaf insects, but u can get those easily from the insect shops
plz check the list of the shops i sent u a while ago
i remember some of them got some cool thai yellow leaf insects
link to P.lanyuhensis(discovered in 2001, quite new sp) pic
http://blog.xuite.net/ecoblog/nature/3723340?p=4
here is a video link from 2001 Taiwan Ecology journal TV series on insects of orchid island
http://vod.ncl.edu.tw/voddata/series/video_16_2.htm
the first gree lizard is Takydromus sauteri
and the second katy is Phyllophorina kotoshoensis (orchid island exclusive, dwarf of the giant katy genus)
both protected

Bungholio · Nov 11, 2006

Tleilaxu said:
In Europe your fine to ask questions about who has these bugs but in the US keep your heads down and mouths shut. As we have seen the USDA (sometimes without warrents) seize peoples bugs and detsroyed them.

WOW!

I never heard about something from USA.
I thought it is nothing special about keeping stick insects in USA.

brandi · Nov 11, 2006

When I worked for the Zoo I took care of our stick bug colony. Interesting, but kind of a pain in the bum to keep up. They were whatever spp is native to Arizona. (Sorry, can't remember what that was)

I looked on the USDA website and couldn't find anything about bug regulations, could somebody post the link?

Kevin_Davies · Nov 11, 2006

I keep around 15 different species at the moment, and some that are still ova, my first Oreophoetes peruana hatched today though.

Brandi, the Arizona phasmids may be Diapheromera arizonensis?

brandi · Nov 12, 2006

Thanks Kevin, that was the name I was looking for! They were fun to observe, but a right royal pain to take care of. According to our commisary, we fed them pyrocantha, which has nasty rotten thorns all over it. Every two weeks we had to take out the branches, carefully remove every single stick bug off them, and place them on fresh branches.

How do you set your bugs up? The plants in your picture look very different, what are they?

Kevin_Davies · Nov 13, 2006

brandi said:
How do you set your bugs up? The plants in your picture look very different, what are they?

Most of my inverts are kept in large storage containers, or plastic or glass tanks, most of my smaller phasmids are kept in sweet jars, and then in tanks or a pop-up mesh cage depending on theyre humidity requirements when theyre larger.

The plant in the picture is a species of tongue fern, I think is Asplenium scolopendrium, Oreophoetes peruana only eat ferns, most of my other phasmids eat bramble and oak though, and will probably eat a lot of other plants as well.

Ganoderma · Nov 13, 2006

wow thanks randolph good stuff. i will try and find some shops next time im in a bigger city! We have yet to visit orchid island, most likely on new years. i found a couple smaller sticks in the mountains this weekend. nothing too special, but nice to see either way.

funnylori · Nov 18, 2006

I know the OSU Bug Zoo keeps phasimids. They have to get all kinds of special permits and go through special procedures. But it sure is cool seeing the look on little kids' faces as the phasmids walk around.

Mr. Mordax · Nov 18, 2006

Most phasmids will happily eat anything in the rose family, so blackberries often come up as an easy food source (albeit spikey). I've heard that oak leaves work nicely too, but I've also heard that you have to find green ones fresh from the tree . . . no collecting them off the ground in fall.

As for the USDA thing, it's through APHIS that you have to worry about. I'm not going to discuss personal phasmid collections on the boards, but here's the link someone was asking for:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/pubs/fsheet_faq_notice/fs_phclassroom.html
Scroll down to see that walkingsticks require a domestic movement permit.
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/permits/ppq_epermits.shtml is a page of permits. I think it's a PPQ 526 permit that importing phasmids would require.

Their website isn't very helpful, but I do know that the OSU Bug Zoo advisor recently updated her permits online by telling USDA what species she has.

Phasmids Keepers here?

Bungholio

Arachnosquire

Tleilaxu

Arachnoprince

Ganoderma

Arachnobaron

Randolph XX()

Arachnoprince

Bungholio

Arachnosquire

brandi

Arachnoknight

Kevin_Davies

Arachnoknight

brandi

Arachnoknight

Kevin_Davies

Arachnoknight

Ganoderma

Arachnobaron

funnylori

Arachnobaron

Mr. Mordax

Arachnoking