Taking care of stick insects, looking after stick insects | Small-Life Supplies

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Your insect questions answered by the specialist. Email prof@small-life.co.uk If you email a photo, the file size needs to be less than 4Mb.		Ask Professor Phasmid... answering a selection of your questions every Friday
		» next update Friday 25th April 2025

Starting with the basics:
Most species of stick insect eat bramble (blackberry) leaves. Always check that the stick insects you are getting eat bramble (blackberry) leaves because there are a handful of stick insect species that do not! All the stick insects that we breed and supply eat bramble (blackberry) leaves.

Keep the leaves fresh for a week by standing the cut stems of bramble in a Sprig Pot of cold tap water.

Stick insects need to drink and so lightly spray the leaves every day or so with cold tap water, from one of our fine Misters.

Always house stick insects in a TALL cage with two mesh sides for cross-flow ventilation. The ELC stick insect cage is the ideal enclosure for stick insects. It is 51cm or 20" tall, so they have plenty of room to grow properly.

At "Bug Club", the visiting guest said Pink Winged stick insects were discovered 166 years ago. How can she be so sure of this? Your guest speaker was referring to the year that the Pink Winged stick insect was assigned its Latin species name, Sipyloidea sipylus. At that time, in 1859, the esteemed British entomologist John Westwood, who was associated with Oxford University, was instrumental in classifying insects, including stick insects, to species level. So, in recognition of this, his surname and year this identification was made, is stated after the species. So, the complete full ID is Pink Winged stick insect (Sipyloidea sipylus) Westwood 1859. This species continues to be one of the most popular types of stick insect kept as pets today. I've got 5 small green stick insects and they all have food and leaves they eat but I've noticed a few have been bending their antennae to their mouth so idk if they are eating or cleaning? Your stick insects are cleaning their antennae. This is done regularly because the antennae are full of sensory hairs which must be kept clean so they can continue to work properly. The stick insect passes one antenna through its wet mouth at a time, using the front leg(s) to guide the antenna through the mouthparts at the correct speed. Have any of your Indian stick insect eggs been majorly delayed by the recent winter? I had one hatch in early March that was due late January, and I’m still waiting for eggs that were due in February/March. The eggs look normal and are kept around 20 Celsius (there is nowhere warmer for them). Will the new season help them hatch? Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) eggs usually hatch after four months, but this can be longer during the winter months. At Small-Life Supplies, Indian stick insect eggs laid 23rd December 2024 are hatching now, so these are hatching after four months. But there are also some Indian stick insect eggs laid 21st November 2024 that are hatching now, so these have taken five months to hatch. There is no need to keep stick insect eggs at 20 degrees Celsius. Our stick insect eggs are all kept at 12 degrees Celsius during the night and approximately 18 degrees Celsius during the day. In the wild the temperature naturally fluctuates between day and night and so it is recommended to mimic these conditions in your home when keeping stick insect eggs, rather than trying to maintain a constant high temperature. Now that Spring is here, we expect the hatching time to continue at four months, but if we have a very hot summer, it may reduce to three months.
The book "Keeping Stick Insects" by Dorothy Floyd answers the questions most frequently asked, including details on the different species, care tips and basic biology. Concentrating on the popular types of stick insect (Indian, Pink Winged, Thailand, Australian Macleays Spectre and New Guinea), this book is an invaluable practical guide, written by one of the UK's top breeders of stick insects. Available from this website: buy book from small-life.co.uk or 24/7 from our numonday on-line shop buy book on-line on numonday	10,000 copies sold

I have heard that the young bright green leaves on brambles can be poisonous to stick insects, would you be able to confirm if this is true or not, I don't want to poison my insects! Yes, it is important to remove the tiny new pale green shoots of bramble. Bramble (blackberry) leaves that are 3cm or larger are safe for stick insects to eat. This is explained in the first Small-Life Supplies You Tube video: How To Feed Stick Insects in the Spring # 001 Is it better to buy eggs or actual stick insects? My daughter will be nine next week and would love some twiggy stick insects for her birthday. It's more exciting to receive the actual living stick insects, but obviously you need to purchase these from a reputable supplier. Small-Life Supplies has decades of experience sending out stick insects nationwide across the UK and live arrival is guaranteed. The best type of stick insects for your daughter to start with would be the Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus). These are easy to handle, eat bramble (blackberry) leaves and do best in the purpose-designed ELC stick insect cage. Young adults are being dispatched now and so your daughter could save some of the eggs and look forward to them hatching in four months time. Our local pet shop (in Cornwall) said we can go outside and find our own stick insects, but that can't be right surely? The pet shop will be referring to the New Zealand stick insect (Acanthoxyla prasina). That species of stick insect has been living wild in Cornwall, UK, for over one hundred years, having been brought over by mistake on cargo ships in the early 1900s. Some people in Cornwall find these New Zealand stick insects on their conifer hedges and rose bushes, or even on their houses when it is getting colder in the autumn months. However, few people keep that species as a pet, primarily because it does not seem to thrive in captivity. So, if you would like to keep stick insects as pets, I'd recommend the easy popular types, for example the Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus), Pink Winged stick insect (Sipyloidea sipylus), Thailand stick insect (Baculum thaii) and New Guinea stick insects (Eurycantha calcarata). Small-Life Supplies breed all these varieties and delivery is within 24 hours nationwide. Live arrival is guaranteed. Our Pink Winged ladies are furnishing us with eggs. We are thrilled but would like your advice on what to do next. Do we need a HAP? Congratulations! Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus) are unusual in that they glue their eggs onto rough surfaces. It is very important to leave the eggs where they have been glued so that they can hatch successfully. This species has evolved like this for a reason. So never remove the eggs because a Pink Winged stick insect will be unable to free herself from an eggshell that is no longer stuck down. The baby Pink Winged stick insect is relatively large and pale green and can live in the ELC cage from birth. So no, you do not need a HAP. Don't give the eggs any attention and they will start to hatch after three months. I'm thinking of getting some stick insects. Do their needs differ by breed? What breed is better for a first time owner? Yes, some breeds of stick insect are easier to keep than other breeds. The easiest breed of stick insect to keep is the Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus). These stick insects eat bramble (blackberry) leaves, are safe to handle and do best in the ELC stick insect cage. How big should a stick insect cage be? The size recommended would be 51cm x 36cm x 27cm. The 51cm height is very important because stick insects need a tall cage so that they have space to grow properly. Stick insects housed in squat tanks are too cramped and are likely to have stunted growth, or even worse, deformed bodies that are bent (instead of the being straight). The ELC cage is 51cm tall and is the correct size for many popular stick insects including the Indian stick insects, Pink Winged stick insects, Thailand stick insects, New Guinea stick insects and many other species. How quickly do UK butterflies and moths lay their eggs? Is it seconds or minutes? The time that it takes a female adult butterfly or moth to lay an egg depends on what species she is and how conscientious she is. For example, the female British Small White butterfly Pieris rapae lays eggs singly on cruciferous plants, and so the butterfly flies from leaf to leaf, pausing for a few seconds to stick an egg on the leaf. In contrast, the female British Vapourer moth (Orgyia antiqua) usually embarks on a six hour marathon of gluing her entire batch of several hundred eggs, neatly in rows, side by side. However, a few individuals are more slap dash and finish the job in half the time, but by laying fewer eggs are not bothering to arrange them neatly. My Indian stick with the injured back legs is past her expected first moult date and is still eating and pooing a lot. How many days can she delay before it becomes a concern? She’s 28 days old and no signs of moulting, she was even resting happily on the bottom this morning. Other than the leg injuries from birth, can you see any reasons for this delay? She’s active and is turning green. I can see from your photos that this Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) is looking plump and so she will be shedding her skin for the first time soon. Three weeks is the average time before the first skin change (ecdysis), but another week or so of delay is no cause for concern. It will be interesting to see how much improvement there will be on the state of her back legs after her first skin change, because they are quite badly misshapen. How long is your 30% sale off ELC cage Liners on for? It's just that I'm going away for Easter, and I don't want them being delivered when I'm not here. I'd recommend purchasing the ELC Liners now and request delivery be delayed until after you get back. Small-Life Supplies routinely accommodates such delivery requests. Using the disposable ELC Liners makes your stick insect display look nice and the Liners are much better than kitchen roll because they are not absorbent and so don't dry up the surroundings. Also, the coating on the coloured side of the ELC Liner means that the round stick insect eggs easily roll off when you tap the Liner underneath. So this saves you lots of time when you are collecting your stick insect eggs. Can you tell me what the life span of a stick insect is? Most stick insects live for one year, some l8 months, and a few 2 - 3 years. The lifespan is determined by the species and of course how well you are looking after them. More details are on our latest YouTube video, Stick Insect Birthdays Video #12 Which stick insects are best for early years? We'd love to have some stick insects in our early years setting. Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) do well in nursery schools because they are easy to keep, safe to handle and can walk on your hands. The New Guinea stick insects (Eurycantha calcarata) are popular amongst children who like dinosaurs but can be scary to some other children. Both types eat bramble (blackberry) leaves and do well in the ELC cage. I was given a mixed bag of stick insects, and after doing my research, I think I have four Indian stick insects, and one lone male Thailand stick insect. I attach a photo, please can you confirm? Also, will the male Thailand stick insect be lonely on his own, he's in the same ELC cage as the Indian stick insects but he's not the same species? Yes, you have identified your stick insects correctly. And yes, the male Thailand stick insect (Baculum thaii) needs the company of other Thailand stick insects, and so I recommend you contact Small-Life Supplies and ask the price for one female Thailand stick insect (of a similar size), or a pack of two females and another male. There is plenty of room in the ELC cage for your four Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) and four Thailand stick insects. These two species live well together in the ELC cage and both eat bramble (blackberry) leaves. Is it a stick bug or a stick insect? Stick insect is correct. Stick bug is more of a slang term. Phasmid is the scientific word for a stick insect. Are insect fairs still a thing, or have they died a death like so many other events? We really enjoyed meeting the Small-Life Supplies team at the Cambridge University Zoology department event, but that was years ago, pre-Covid. There are some invertebrate fairs in the UK, but their main focus is on spiders, rather than insects. Attendance has fallen considerably, one reason being that so much stock is readily available on-line. The annual Cambridge event you mention is still happening but has been scaled back and so unfortunately it is no longer commercially viable for Small-Life Supplies to exhibit there. Help needed with my mantis! It's a young Giant Asian praying mantis, Hierodula membranacea. It came with an opaque plastic soup pot, but she deserves an upgrade! The HAP looks good, but do you do this in a larger size? The "URV round" is the best mantis enclosure. This is one of our new products, and has been developed especially for mantids. It is clear, larger than the HAP and has a ventilated lid. It's sent ready built and it is the ideal size enclosure for a young mantid, being 15cm high and 15cm in diameter. More details will be on this website soon, or you can pre-order by phoning Small-Life Supplies on 01733 913480. Gutted that I missed out on your Clearance ELC stick insect cage with the green Liner last week, please can I be updated when the next one is available? The easiest way to get hold of one of our cut-price lightly used ELC cages is to phone the office on 01733 913480, or to keep checking the "Clearance Page". We use lots of ELC cages in our breeding facility and keep replenishing them with new ELC cages that we continue to manufacture here in the UK. How long does a stick insect live? A stick insect's life expectancy depends on what species it is. Some species of stick insect live longer than others. Watch the latest Small-Life Supplies YouTube video,"Stick Insect Birthdays" to find out more: Stick Insect Birthdays Video #12 How do you get the substrate not to mould? Their poops mould in our glass tank. Stick insects should not be housed in mouldy tanks because this is very unhealthy for both the stick insects and for you. One of the issues with glass tanks is that they have solid glass sides and so there is no natural cross-flow of air. This means that the surroundings quickly become stuffy, and mould develops if you have damp substrate. So, it's much better to house your stick insects in the ELC cage, this enclosure has two full ventilated sides enabling a constant through-draught of air. And, instead of using damp substrate, it is much better to use paper Liners, these have the added advantage of making egg collecting very easy because it is simple to spot the eggs on the Liner and pick them up. My baby Indian stick insect (with the disabled back legs) has started pooing and I found tiny bite marks in her food, so hopefully she will now grow to a healthy size for her age. Is the back leg issue likely to affect her first moult? It is good news that your newly hatched Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) is now eating and getting stronger. Her back leg issue will not affect her ability to shed her skin. It is the front legs that are important in the skin-changing process (ecdysis) and fortunately your stick insect's front legs are fine, so she should be OK in shedding her skin successfully. How long does a stick insect live? A stick insect's life expectancy depends on what species it is. Some species of stick insect live longer than others. Watch the latest Small-Life Supplies YouTube video,"Stick Insect Birthdays" to find out more: Stick Insect Birthdays Video #12 How do you get the substrate not to mould? Their poops mould in our glass tank. Stick insects should not be housed in mouldy tanks because this is very unhealthy for both the stick insects and for you. One of the issues with glass tanks is that they have solid glass sides and so there is no natural cross-flow of air. This means that the surroundings quickly become stuffy, and mould develops if you have damp substrate. So, it's much better to house your stick insects in the ELC cage, this enclosure has two full ventilated sides enabling a constant through-draught of air. And, instead of using damp substrate, it is much better to use paper Liners, these have the added advantage of making egg collecting very easy because it is simple to spot the eggs on the Liner and pick them up. My baby Indian stick insect (with the disabled back legs) has started pooing and I found tiny bite marks in her food, so hopefully she will now grow to a healthy size for her age. Is the back leg issue likely to affect her first moult? It is good news that your newly hatched Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) is now eating and getting stronger. Her back leg issue will not affect her ability to shed her skin. It is the front legs that are important in the skin-changing process (ecdysis) and fortunately your stick insect's front legs are fine, so she should be OK in shedding her skin successfully. My stick insect family planning has not gone quite as planned! I have three lovely late stage/just turned adult Pink Winged sticks which is great. However only one of the four Indian stick insect eggs I saved hatched and she is now a mid sized nymph and is now the only Indian stick insect I have. Then last week I got the surprise of a newborn Pink Winged stick insect! She must have hatched from an egg that I missed laid by my oldest Pink Wing before she passed in December. I was planning on buying my Indian stick insect some same-species friends when she reached adulthood but am not sure what to do about the little one. I am not sure whether to save some of my adult Pink Wings' eggs when they start laying? Would these offspring be good company for her as they'd be younger? Or will she be fine with her big sisters? I would be interested to know how much social benefit stick insects gain from each other and how age and species affects this. Your newly hatched Pink Winged stick insect (Sipyloidea sipylus) needs to be in the same cage with adult Pink Winged stick insects to encourage her to eat, so it is good that you have adults. And yes, if you leave some of the new Pink Winged eggs glued within the ELC cage, you can look forward to more emerging in three months time. Your young Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) would benefit from having company of her own kind, so I'd recommend you purchase a pack of four Indian stick insect nymphs from Small-Life Supplies. (Both adults and nymphs are offered for sale). If you explain what size your existing Indian stick insect is, then similar size nymphs can be dispatched to you, so they will all be of a similar age. You could also purchase a couple of young Pink Winged nymphs, to keep your baby Pink Winged stick insect company. Small-Life Supplies does not dispatch baby stick insects (because they are too delicate). However, you can request small nymphs rather than large nymphs, so they would only be a couple of months older than your existing Pink Winged stick insect. My Indian stick insect hatched overnight and her back legs got stuck in the egg. I had to gently hold the egg so she could free herself. Now, she is struggling to use her back legs to walk as there seems to be something wrong with them - they don’t bend or straighten properly. Will this be sorted over time or will she have a disability? Thanks for the video, I can see it is as you describe. She also looks undersized, but should improve after her first skin-change, if she gets that far. Intervening to remove an eggshell should only be done if the eggshell is attached to the tip of the abdomen (because it stops poo being released). It is not recommended to pull the eggshell off the legs because this can cause physical issues as you can see. Do you ever do Flash Sales on ELC stick insect cages? No, but you can save money by purchasing a lightly used ELC cage. When in stock, these are listed on the "Clearance and sale" page of this website, or you can phone Small-Life Supplies on 01733 913480 to check availability. Is it true that there is only one species of honeybee, the species Apis mellifera? And is it honeybee or honey bee? No. The Western honey bee Apis mellifera is the main species that is bred commercially for honey production, but there are 30 subspecies of this, reflecting differences in physical characteristcs and behaviour. For example, the Italian honey bee Apis mellifera ligustica is smaller with a gentle temperament but readily rob other hives. And the Apis mellifera caucasica, known as the Caucasian bee (because it originates from the Caucasus region) is a large grey bee that is quite productive. The honey bees in the UK are the Apis mellifera mellifera species, currently at risk from varroa mites. A different species of honey bee is the Eastern honey bee Apis cerana, found in India, across southeast Asia to Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Japan. These bees are very hygienic, renewing the wax in the honeycomb on a continuous basis, and so are not impacted by varroa mites. Another species, the giant honey bee Apis dorsata is found in southern and south east Asia. But this species does not build its honeycombs in enclosed cavities (like Apis mellifera), and so has never been domesticated. As you can see the correct terminology is two words, so honey bee. What is the most popular stick insect? The Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) continues to be the most popular stick insect. Here are some reasons why: Indian stick insects are easy to handle, easy to breed, easy to feed (they eat bramble/blackberry) leaves, live approximately one year, are harmless and have an endearing "party trick" of clamping all their legs against the body and falling into a straight motionless stick! We've got aphids on the bramble in the ELC cage. Will they harm the stick insects? And why are there aphids around when there are still frosts at night? In the UK, there are aphids around most of the year, indeed we have seen some on the bramble we have collected to feed the stick insects at Small-Life Supplies. The aphids don't harm the stick insects, but the sticky residue left by the aphids on the walls of the ELC cage is unsightly and needs to be washed off (use dilute bleach and tepid water). When you do your weekly change of bramble in your ELC cage, place the old bramble sprigs outside on a bramble bush, so that the aphids can move onto the fresh bramble leaves outside. A pal gave me some "green bean" stick insect eggs last summer and I've had them in the HAP ever since. TBH I wasn't expecting them to hatch, but now five hatched during the night! My neighbour has a massive eucalyptus tree and the leaves are different shapes, some long and thin, some more rounded, a few have flecks on them (obviously I'd reject those). Anyway, before I go round and beg for some, please tell me which leaves would be best for my "green gang"? And are loose leaves OK? Congratulations on your baby stick insects, technically called "first instar nymphs". The "green bean" stick insects are also known as the Grenadan stick insect (Diapherodes gigantea) and are unusual because they prefer to eat Eucalyptus gunnii leaves instead of bramble (blackberry) leaves. Egg incubation of this species is typically nine months and so you are likely to have more hatching soon! The best leaves for your baby Grenadan stick insects are the small young tender eucalyptus leaves. I recommend putting in a small sprig of these, about 10cm long in the HAP pot. You can add another small sprig in a few days time. Don't mist the leaves with water because this species prefers to eat eucalyptus leaves which are not wet. Do stick insects need a heat mat? No, a heat mat is not necessary providing the room is roughly 12 -14 degrees Celsius at night and 18 - 21 degrees Celsius during the day. Those temperatures are typical of many homes in the UK. However, if you live in a property that is very poorly insulated and regularly drops below 12 degrees Celsius at night, then a purchase of a 500 Watt oil-filled radiator is recommended. Position this portable device near the ELC stick insect cage and the gentle warmth emitted increases the ambient temperature without drying out the foliage in the cage. If I buy 4 Indian stick insects from Small-Life Supplies, what is the likelihood of getting males and females? And do they look very different? Indian stick insects are parthenogenetic, which means they are 99.99% female. They lay eggs which hatch into more females. The males are extremely rare, only occuring 1 in every 10000, and such males look completely different, being thinner, faster and always having a pale brown body that is red underneath the thorax. When you by a pack of four Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) from Small-Life Supplies, you will receive four young healthy adult females. Live arrival is guaranteed. I saw that a few weeks ago, you said that none of your Indian stick eggs from October had hatched. Mine from October have still not hatched and I’m wondering if they ever will. Are any of yours starting to hatch now? Yes, eggs from all the October 2024 batches of our Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) are hatching now. And our Indian stick insect eggs laid on 8th November 2024 have just started to hatch too. Indian stick insects usually hatch approximately four months after being laid. All the stick insect eggs at Small-Life Supplies are stored at a daytime temperature of approximately 18 degrees Celsius and a nighttime temperature of approximately 12 degrees Celsius, which are the same temperatures we keep the stick insect nymphs and adults. When a stick insect drops off one of its legs, what is this called? This self-mutilation is called autotomy. It is an emergency response that a stick insect can deploy to escape danger. The action of throwing off a leg can startle a predator, allowing the stick insect vital time to escape. Sometimes the discarded leg zig zags by itself across the floor! Fortunately a stick insect nymph can regenerate a new little leg at its next skin-change (ecdysis). In contrast, adult stick insects are fully grown and so no longer undergo ecdysis, therefore they are unable to regenerate lost limbs. In captivity, if stick insects are looked after well, leg loss should be rare. Sometimes very old stick insects can lose legs in the last few days of their life, but providing extra water for them to drink at this stage can help to minimise this occurrence. Does a stick insect enclosure need to have a mesh top? No, definitely not! The best stick insect cages have two mesh sides, this is where the stick insects like to rest during the day and this design provides a through-draught of air that the stick insects require. The best stick insect enclosure is the ELC cage, which has two mesh sides and is 51cm high (20 inches). I gave my stick insects some rose leaves bought from the florist and now they look sick. I know I've been foolish, I've thrown all the rose leaves away now and put in the usual bramble, but is there anything else I can do? They are young stick insects, only a few centimetres long. Oh dear, it's very risky to feed stick insects with leaves purchased from florists (and also potted plants bought in supermarkets and garden centres). This is because many of these commercially grown plants have been treated with systemic pesticides, which means these chemicals stay inside the leaves for twelve months and so can't be washed off. Insects that eat these leaves will be poisoned and die, their nervous system is targeted so within hours they lose co-ordination of their legs. You'll need to wait a few days to see how many of your stick insects have eaten these treated rose leaves. The ones that have eaten the leaves will be dead, but there is a chance that some of your stick insects haven't eaten them. This is because when a stick insect is preparing for a skin-change (ecdysis), the stick insect stops eating for a few days. Such stick insects conserve their strength so as well as not eating, they minimise walking around too, sometimes staying in the same place on the mesh side of the ELC cage, high up on the side, which is the safest place for them to shed their skin. Have you seen the media coverage about the furore following the 1% Club TV quiz show last Saturday in which the answer was that an ant was an animal, but some loud mouths on social media vehemently disagreed with this fact? These same people even think that insects are not animals! Yes, I am aware of this, but at least some of these people do know that ants are insects! And let's hope the publicity about this has finally got the message across that insects are animals! Gosh, after years of British Sugar plc applying for the "emergency application for the use of a neonicotinoid pesticide on sugar beet in England" and this being granted for the last five years, a big thumbs up to Environment Minister Emma Hardy for saying no, not this year! We all need to hear some good news and so do the the pollinating insects and the bees! Yes, the dangers of using Cruiser SB which contains the neonicotinoid thiamethoxam are well known, yet it's use has been condoned via this farcical "emergency application" loophole for the last five years. So thank goodness this practice has finally been stopped by this new British government. I have some Indian stick insect eggs laid at various times. I can’t remember exactly when the first were laid, but I think it was some time in October. Do the eggs show signs of being almost ready to hatch? Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) eggs usually take approximately four months to hatch. None of our October 2024 batches of Indian stick insect eggs have started hatching yet, but should be soon. Stick insect eggs do not alter in appearance during their incubation, and so you cannot tell whether hatching is imminent just by a visual inspection. Are stick insects and leaf insects the same thing? So, for example, is an Australian Macleays Spectre both a stick insect and a leaf insect? It's legs sure look like leaves and the body colour is more like a leaf than a stick. No, stick insects are different from leaf insects and so one insect can't be both. However, they do share some physical characteristics which is why in the official biological classification system, stick insects and leaf insects are both classified as belonging to the order Phasmida. The easy way to determine if an insect is a stick insect or a leaf insect is by looking at the thickness of the abdomen. Leaf insects always have very thin abdomens, these almost look flat, like a sheet of paper. In contrast, stick insects have bulky thick abdomens (especially the adult females when these are full of eggs). In your example of the Australian Macleays Spectre (Extatosoma tiaratum), these are definitely stick insects because they have bulky bodies. The leafy-looking legs and body colour are to help with their camouflage of blending in with the surroundings and looking like a leaf. I work at a primary school and we need a new cage for our class stick insects. The students have raised £55 from fundraisers. Your ELC cages look excellent and so my cheeky request is do you offer any school discounts? It is great that you are keeping stick insects at the primary school because this encourages more children to become interested in insects and nature. If you purchase the ELC cage via the school, you can reclaim the 20% VAT off the purchase price. Or, you can save even more by purchasing a lightly used ELC cage from our "clearance page". Any cages listed on that page are in very good condition, have been cleaned, and are dispatched in the same strong bespoke packaging that we use to deliver the new ELC cages, so you can rest assured that your ELC cage will arrive assembled and undamaged. Is it normal for Indian stick insect eggs to have a black lid instead of yellow? The stick that laid it matured after 5 moults instead of 6, and its sibling just died from the same premature adulthood condition at 7 months. I’m concerned about the egg quality. My only other remaining stick has had all 6 moults but was stunted and tiny until it had its final moult, so I don’t know how that would affect its eggs. I’m just concerned because I have no genetically ‘normal’ sticks and don’t know the best way to continue their lineage. The issues you highlight are not common amongst healthy stock. So I suggest you start again with Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) from a healthy strain. You can purchase four healthy adult Indian stick insects from Small-Life Supplies. Or, another option is to purchase the Indian stick insect eggs from Small-Life Supplies. Our eggs are supplied in packs of eight and are delivered just a few weeks before they are due to hatch (so you don't have to wait the full four months of their incubation). I'm so glad I've found Small-Life Supplies, an ethical business that truly cares about the insects. I have stick insects and would like to expand into silkmoths but I don't know how easy it is to grow mulberry bushes in the UK? Yes, Small-Life Supplies always prioritises the welfare of the insects which is one reason why the business has been going for 40 years! Live arrival is guaranteed and the insects are nice and healthy, being captive-bred at Small-Life Supplies. The caterpillars of Chinese silkmoths (Bombyx mori) eat mulberry leaves. But the caterpillars of giant Indian Eri silkmoths (Samia ricini) eat privet leaves. Small-Life Supplies breeds the Indian Eri silkmoths. Our caterpillars (also called silkworms) should be ready to purchase in a few weeks time (the adult silkmoths are laying eggs at the moment). Fresh Cut Privet can be delivered too, or you may prefer to source your own privet if you have access to a large green privet hedge nearby. I think we already found some Indian stick insect eggs, see photo attached? How many eggs at the same time can be in the HAP ? I understand we do nothing with eggs until hatching ? Congratulations, your photo shows six Indian stick insect eggs (Carausius morosus). For best results, put these in the HAP and add a label with the date the eggs were laid. This date label helps you estimate when the eggs are due to hatch (this will be in approximately four months time). The HAP can hold up to one hundred eggs, but most people prefer to save about thirty eggs. This is because the hatching success rate of Indian stick insect eggs is high, and it's important not to hatch out more stick insects than you can cope with. The ELC cage can comfortably house approximately twenty adult Indian stick insects. And yes, you are correct, it is best to just leave the eggs alone in the HAP, they require no attention at all during their incubation. The HAP is best positioned on a shelf away from direct sunshine (so that it doesn't get too hot inside). The HAP is clear and so you'll easily be able to see the brown baby Indian stick insects when they hatch. It's a good idea to check in the morning because Indian stick insect eggs usually hatch during the night. Is the URV cage suitable for storing stick insect eggs? No. The URV cage has a ventilated lid and so is too airy to store stick insect eggs sucessfully. Stick insect eggs should be stored in a non-ventilated container, that is why the HAP is ideal. My lecturer was explaining about population dynamics in insect populations, which I totally get, and find interesting. But she also said sometimes a healthy insect population can be wiped out because eggs stop hatching. Please can you let me know if you have evidence of this, either anectodal or direct experience? No, but years ago, Small-Life Supplies used to breed the Javanese stick insect (Orxines macklottii) commercially to sell. This is a very attractive stick insect, unusual because it eats rhododendron leaves, but really pretty with nice markings and orange wings. Anyway, one year all the eggs hatched into males! And so that population died out completely, not because the eggs stopped hatching but because no eggs were laid (because all the adults were males). Recently, several customers have commented that their Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) are not laying as many eggs as usual. However, this is most likely due to the gloomier light conditions that we are experiencing in the UK at the moment because it is winter, and also the quality of the bramble (blackberry) leaves is not as good now as it is during the summer months. Both these factors adversely affect the number of eggs produced by the females. We are thrilled to see our Indian Eri silkmoths with their big wings! All five have emerged in the last couple of days, four are perfect, but one (whom my daughter has named Mrs Crinkly) has wings that are crumpled at the ends. I'm guessing she won't be able to fly? Is there any reason why she's like this? Indian Eri silkmoths (Samia ricini) are most impressive silkmoths with their huge wings and furry bodies. After they have emerged from their silk cocoons, they rest for a day or two to allow time for their wings to unfurl and stiffen up. It's really important that there is plenty of space underneath so that there is room for the wings to expand unhindered by any objects. However, even when there is empty space underneath, sometimes the silkmoth does not unfurl its wings properly and so the wings harden in a crumpled state. Such insects cannot fly properly but are still keen to mate and, if female, lay eggs. However, it's best not to save the eggs from such afflicted individuals, and instead save the eggs from your perfect specimens because they are naturally stronger and healthier. Here, at Small-Life Supplies, we always save the eggs from the strongest flyers too, because it is nice to see a giant Indian Eri silkmoth flying around a room several times! My 6 month old Indian stick insect had its final moult 10 weeks ago and still hasn’t hardened up or developed its adult shape. I’ve been noticing dark green spots appearing on its back. Is this normal? My others are fully mature. I can see from the photos you've sent that this adult female Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) appears to have a thinner exoskeleton than normal. This is why she looks translucent and you can see the spots underneath. This is another example of a genetic issue, so in other words, a condition she has been born with rather than resulting from external environmental factors. Her exoskeleton will be more delicate because it is so thin, so she is at increased risk of cutting herself on a sharp bramble thorn. However, that risk is minimal because it usually only happens if a stick insect falls and slices itself on a bramble thorn as it falls. So she should be OK but probably won't live quite as long as your other adult Indian stick insects. We've just got back from collecting bramble in the snow! There is frost all over the leaves, what do I do next? Just insert the bramble into the Sprig Pit of cold tap water, as usual. Depending on the thickness of the stems, you can push in two or three sprigs of bramble through the central hole in the red lid of the Sprig Pot. But because your bramble is frosty, it is important to delay putting this food into the ELC cage until is has defrosted. So leave the Sprig Pot of bramble in a sink for a few hours, to allow the bramble to thaw out. When the leaves look normal again, you can put it in the ELC cage. What is the best substrate to use for stick insects that drill down to bury their eggs? I've heard that mites can occur in soil and vermiculite can be messy? Most species of stick insect drop their eggs onto the Liner in the ELC cage and it is easy to sort and collect these eggs using the tip of a fine artist's paintbrush. There are a few species of stick insect which have an ovipositor shaped a bit like a trowel, because it is designed to dig a small hole, push out an egg, and then cover the egg up again. Here at Small-Life Supplies, we always use a pot of sterilised dry sand for this purpose. This works well and at the end of every week, the dry sand is passed through a metal sieve, to collect the eggs. The sieved sand is replace in the Sand Pit and put back in the same place on the ELC cage Liner. This is because the female adults learn where to lay their eggs and go to the place where the Sand Pit should be when they are ready to bury some eggs. Stick insect species that bury their eggs in the Sand Pit include: New Guinea stick insects (Eurycantha calcarata) and Malaysian (Heteropteryx dilatata). Sand Pits (including the pot and the sterilised sand) are available to purchase from Small-Life Supplies. At nursery school, we are expanding our nature table. We already have two ELC cages of stick insects (they are a great success) and one of the parents has offered us a couple of Giant African Land Snails that she has bred. We are really tempted by these but are concerned because the parent said the downside to keeping these snails is the little flies that emerge from the wet soil! Do you have any expertise in this area? Small-Life Supplies breed Giant African Land Snails (Achatina fulica) and they are entertaining and easy pets that do well in an active environment, such as a nursery school. This is because these snails are most active when they are warm and there is lots going on that they can watch. The snail cage needs to be more humid than a stick insect cage, which is why we manufacture a proper snail cage called the HLQ cage. To keep the surroundings moist, use HLQ Liners, these are made from thick grey material which you soak under a running tap of cold tap water and then put the sopping wet HLQ Liner on the floor of the HLQ cage. Unlike wet soil which is a breeding ground for small flies, the HLQ Liners do not have this issue and so are the ideal hygienic way to look after your Giant African Land Snails both at home and at school. Do you need to spray Indian stick insect eggs or put them on soil or anything like that? No, just place your Indian stick insect eggs (Carausius morosus) in the HAP and wait. Hatching is usually after four months, this can be reduced to three months if the room is hot (during the summer months). Don't put Indian stick insect eggs on soil or spray them with water because this is not necessary and can harm them. Do Indian stick insects have eyes? If so how many? Yes, an Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) has two compound eyes, either side of the head. They are called compound eyes because they consist of hundreds of hexagonal lenses. All of these contribute to produce a picture of the surroundings. Stick insects see objects clearly and in colour. I was just wondering what else would Thailand stick insects eat as it is winter all the bramble is dying out. Thailand stick insects (Baculum thaii) need to eat bramble (blackberry) leaves. Nice green bramble leaves can be found all year round in the UK if you look in the right overgrown wild places such as: disused railway lines, canal embankments, wooded areas and sheltered brownfield sites (often earmarked for future housing). So although your current source of bramble is dying off, there will be other bramble bushes around that still have plenty of green leaves. If you get stuck, fresh cut bramble is available from Small-Life Supplies all year round and delivered to your door by express courier. I'm so happy because we now have some eggs laid by Poppy, our largest Indian stick insect! I'm reading conflicting info on-line about how best to care for them, please tell us what do you recommend? Congratulations! Indian stick insect eggs (Carausius morosus) are very easy to hatch if you do the following. Just place the eggs in the HAP (which is a round clear plastic unventilated container) and wait. Approximately four months later the babies, called "first instar nymphs" emerge, usually hatching during the night. Don't be tempted to put the eggs on kitchen roll because this can make them too dry and don't spray the eggs with water because this can make them go mouldy. We'd love some Pink Winged stick insects, can we add these to our collection of Indian stick insects, currently thriving in the ELC cage? And can Small-Life Supplies send us some nice bramble? Ours is looking a bit ropey. Yes, Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) and Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus) mix well together in the same ELC cage. Pink Winged stick insects are supplied in packs of two and so there is room in the cage for up to fourteen Indian stick insects and two Pink Winged stick insects. Our stocks of bramble are lush and so yes, there is no problem sending out fresh cut bramble with nice green leaves, more details are on the website page listing the different stick insects in stock. Wow, adult New Guinea stick insects can be so different in size. Does size of the cage affect the growth like size of fishtank affects species growth? New Guinea stick insects (Eurycantha calcarata) are unusual because they can vary so much in overall size as adults. This means that even those reared in the same ELC cage can develop into a mixture of small adults and massive adults! This huge size variation is not seen with most other species of stick insect. So no, if you house the New Guinea stick insects in a cage larger than the ELC cage you will not get larger adults. What's the best way to clean the ELC cage? I've got the Cleaning Sponge but not sure which detergent I should use? Put dilute bleach and tepid tap water on the Cleaning Sponge and rub firmly to remove any marks on the clear plastic panels and also the thick white mesh walls of the ELC cage. Rinse thoroughly with cold tap water and gently dry the ELC cage with a soft cotton tea towel. If you repeat this procedure every couple of months or so, your ELC cage will remain looking nice and clear for many years! And remember to use washing up gloves to protect your hands against the bleach. At a recent conference I was talking to a researcher of the UK "The Angle Shades" moth. I have this distinctive moth breeding in my garden, the caterpillars eating the dock leaves. But why does it have the word "The" as part of its common name? Other common noctuid moths such as Large Yellow Underwing (Noctua pronuba) and Grey Dagger (Apatele psi) don't? The specialist researcher didn't know, so is it just one of those things? Most British moths are assigned common names which do not have the word "The" in front of them. But there are a minority of moths which do. There are a few examples in the Noctuidae family (which has approximately 400 species in the UK). Examples of these include: The Angle Shades (Phlogophora meticulosa), The Flame (Axylia putris), The Gothic (Naenia typica), The Campion (Hadena rivularis), The Clay (Leucania lythargyria), The Shark (Cucullia umbratica), The Mullein (Cucullia verbasci), The Satellite (Eupsilia transversa), The Herald (Scoliopteryx libatrix). As for the reason why, I suspect there isn't a logical reason, but instead it is, as you say, just how it has happened. Is it normal for a 9 month old Indian stick insect to begin showing signs of age (e.g excessive thirst, weakening grip)? She has been in perfect health her whole life so I didn’t think she’d start this early. My previous stick started showing signs later than this and had health issues since being a nymph. Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) live approximately 12 months. This means that most live that long, but some individuals have longer lifespans and others shorter lifespans. As well as the health of the stick insect being a factor in her life expectancy, so is her activity. The most active stick insects (which are often nice healthy ones) have shorter lifespans than their less active sisters. I need safe stick insects around my daughter (aged 13), I've heard some spray a dangerous chemical? Please tell me which type would be best and safe. I live in Peterborough and hoping I haven't left it too late to get stick insects for Christmas? Small-Life Supplies only breed and sell safe harmless stick insects. The best type for your daughter to start with is the Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus), these are safe to handle, do not spray, and eat bramble (blackberry) leaves. You can house up to twenty adult Indian stick insects in the ELC cage and Small-Life Supplies sells them in packs of four adults (they like company, and so are sold in packs of four rather than individually). And yes, local deliveries in the Peterborough area are happening next week, so there is still time to receive everything before Christmas. A few species of stick insect emit dangerous chemicals which can harm people (and pet cats, dogs etc). The chemical spray from a Florida stick insect (Anisomorpha buprestoides) can cause temporary blindness if it lands on your eyeball, and the chemical spray from a Black Beauty Peruvian stick insect (Peruphasma schultei) can cause nasal and throat irritation to sensitive children, teenagers and adults. I purchased the ELC cage from you and my son and I went to the pet shop to choose our Indian stick insects, but the guy there said we needed a humidity gauge, lights, a heat mat, and vermiculite substrate! Honestly, I think he was taking us for fools. He even had the cheek to recommend a small plastic tank as housing! I told him about the ELC cage, thanks to your informative website I felt I knew more about the care of stick insects than him! Yes, it is depressing when some places try and sell you as much as possible, just to increase their earnings. One of the big advantages of keeping stick insects is that their equipment requirement is minimal. Sure, they need the proper ELC stick insect cage, ideally with the disposable cage Liners, Sprig Pot of water (for keeping the bramble fresh), and a Mister to spray the bramble leaves with cold tap water so that the stick insects can drink. But a humidity gauge is not needed, and lights and vermiculite substrate are best avoided. Also, a heat mat is not recommended because it is not necessary and can cause harm by drying up the foliage and surroundings. What's the latest update on that endangered stick insect in Lord Howe Island? The eradication of rats on Lord Howe Island has been reported as being a huge success in helping to protect this species of stick insect. Captive rearing is underway at Melbourne Zoo in Australia and also at the Nursery on Lord Howe Island. This is an impressive chunky stick insect, superficially similar to the New Guinea stick insect (Eurycantha calcarata), but more glossy and classified with species name Dryococelus australis. It's native habitat is on Ball's Pyramid, which is 770km from the East Coast of Australia (off Sydney). How big should a stick insect cage be? The size recommended would be 51cm x 36cm x 27cm. The 51cm height is very important because stick insects need a tall cage so that they have space to grow properly. Stick insects housed in squat tanks are too cramped and are likely to have stunted growth, or even worse, deformed bodies that are bent (instead of the being straight). The ELC cage is 51cm tall and is the correct size for many popular stick insects including the Indian stick insects, Pink Winged stick insects, Thailand stick insects, New Guinea stick insects and many other species. I read somewhere that ivy can be given to Indian stick insects, is that correct? If so, what type of ivy is the best to use? We live in Gloucestershire and have an old churchyard nearby which is full of ivy and brambles. Ivy should really only be used as a last resort to feed Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus). This is because these stick insects usually do much better on a diet of fresh bramble (blackberry) leaves. So it's great that your churchyard has stocks of bramble. However, if you are purchasing Indian stick insects that have been exclusively eating ivy leaves for many months, you could continue feeding them with ivy, gathered from the churchyard. Don't be tempted to buy a potted ivy plant because this is likely to have been treated with pesticides and these will kill any insect that eats the leaves. The pesticides are within the stems and veins of the plant and so cannot be washed off. The egg is still attached to my stick insect, can I try and remove it? Where is it attached? If the empty eggshell is attached to a leg, it is best left alone, because if you attempt to remove it, you are likely to damage the leg or cause the stick insect to panic and throw it's leg off. When the stick insect completes it's first skin-change (ecdysis) in a few weeks time, the eggshell will be discarded, together with the rest of the old skin. However, if the eggshell is attached to the end of the body (abdomen) this is serious because it is blocking the faecal exit hole, and so needs to be removed. So gently hold the eggshell between you thumb and forefinger and you will feel the force of the stick insect pulling away. Usually this works and you are left with the complete empty eggshell, including the soft white inner liner. Occasionally it does not work and the stick insect walks away with the white inner liner still covering the faecal exit hole, and you are left with just the outer eggshell between your fingertips. Bea has stuck an egg onto Leah's leg! Will it hatch? Should I leave it or try to remove it? Bea and Leah are my Pink Winged stick insects, I have been looking after them since my birthday last August. Adult Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus) glue their eggs onto rough surfaces. Their favourite places are usually in the holes in the mesh sides of the ELC cage, under the bramble leaves, or on top of the cage Liner. Occasionally one Pink Winged stick insect will glue an egg onto another Pink Winged stick insect's body, usually selecting a leg as a suitable site, as Bea has done with Leah. I've seen this happen a few times and always left the egg alone, because it does not appear to be inconveniencing the recipient. So I suggest you do the same and look forward to seeing one of Bea's offspring hatching out of this egg in three months time. I just noticed one of my adult Indian sticks has frass that is stringy. What does this mean? It just started exhibiting this after I noticed one of my younger Indian sticks had a fungal infection. The adult Indian doesn’t seem to show any signs of a fungal infection on its body. Healthy Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) should not be producing stringy frass (poo), but instead should be excreting separate solid droppings that are dry and fall onto the Liner. So you are right to be concerned. Fungal infections in stick insects can occur if the surroundings are too damp with stagnant air, and so perhaps you are over-spraying their leaves with water? Or perhaps the housing isn't optimal, remember Indian stick insects do best in a cage with two full mesh sides that provide good natural ventilation, so the ELC cage is ideal. Also, perhaps the bramble (blackberry) leaves are poor quality, at this time of year it's important to locate green bramble leaves that are relatively thick and avoid the really thin green bramble leaves (because these thin leaves are not nutritious). So I'd recommend you look at the above factors to determine how best to resolve the issue. This photo is of two Indian stick insects, these two hatched on the same day at the end of July and have both had five moults. One is much smaller and thinner than the other - could it be a male? It has slight pink marks on the armpits and sometimes runs much faster than the others - I can’t tell if it’s a rare male or a stunted female. Thank you for the photo, these are both female Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus). The really rare males that only occur in 0.01% of the population, are much thinner and are a tan colour. Their antennae are longer than the female's antennae and the underside of the thorax is red. You are correct in thinking that the males are hyper-active, there is a short Small-Life Supplies YouTube video showing a rare male Indian stick insect running around, here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT4lgwQCo6c We are stick insect newbies and like the look of the Jungle Nymphs - would these be a great starter species? Best not! The Jungle Nymphs or Malaysian stick insects (Heteropteryx dilatata) are suitable for the experienced stick insect keeper, not a beginner. This is because they need to be handled correctly to avoid being aggressive, and they have very long lifespans (typically three years) so are suited to people who have a long-term commitment and interest in keeping stick insects. Another spectacular looking species that is much easier but is a similar shape to Malaysian stick insects, is the New Guinea stick insect (Eurycantha calcarata), and so those would be much better type for you to look after and enjoy. When I was a girl (many moons ago), we fed our stick insects (Indian ones) with privet from our large privet hedge. Now my grandson has the bug but I notice that you don't recommend privet for Indian stick insects, may I ask why? I'd like to get him an Indian stick insect kit for Christmas. Decades ago, most people in the UK fed their Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) with privet leaves, gathered from privet hedges. Then a strange thing happened about thirty years ago, whereby many pet Indian stick insects suddenly refused to eat privet leaves and so, en masse, people switched over to an alternative foodplant, bramble (blackberry) leaves. This also happened to the breeding stocks at Small-Life Supplies and our Indian stick insects have been fed on bramble (blackberry) leaves ever since. You can supplement their diet with hazel and rose leaves, but we have found that Indian stick insects still do best if their main diet is bramble (blackberry) leaves. Of course there are still some Indian stick insects that will eat privet, but we no longer list it as a suitable foodplant because they much prefer to eat bramble (blackberry) leaves. Fortunately with all the rain we have had in recent months there is lots of good quality bramble (blackberry) leaves growing wild in the UK and so your grandson should be able to find plenty (he needs to look in overgrown areas, such as disused railway lines and woods). I'm getting the URV cage with the young New Guinea stick insects as a Christmas gift to myself. Money is really tight, but I'm hoping to get enough Christmas money to buy the ELC cage in January. My question is - will the New Guinea stick insects be OK in the URV cage until January? Yes, that will be OK. When the New Guinea stick insects (Eurycantha calcarata) are young nymphs they need restricted air-flow and so do best in the URV cage. However, as they grow they need more ventilation and more space, so will need to be transferred to the ELC cage. The New Guinea stick insect nymphs being dispatched with the URV within the next couple of weeks will be ready to go into the ELC cage in early February 2025, which fits into your time frame nicely. My daughter is obsessed with stick insects. She has asked for one. She is very gentle, I'm looking for advice really on where to start, for beginners. Is there a complete beginners bundle, with everything I'd need to get her started with the easiest for her to look after to begin with? She'll definitely want to hatch some of her own! It's great that your daughter likes stick insects and wants her own to care for. Stick insects like company of their own kind and so are best kept in small groups. The Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) is the best type to start with and these ones eat bramble/blackberry leaves (which you gather from outside or you can purchase fresh cut bramble/blackberry sprigs of leaves from Small-Life Supplies). For a "complete beginners bundle" I recommend the Christmas Special which is a bundle including everything you need to keep and breed Indian stick insects, including the actual stick insects. We had researched suitable foods for our Indian stick insects online and Camellia and Maple leaves came up for Indian stick insects, so that's what they've been eating. But the stick insects have all gone floppy and died, we've only had them for one month? This is a sad example of following really bad advice given on-line, posted by either an ignorant or malicious source. And yes, there really are some twisted individuals who think it's funny to post "advice" that will kill stick insects. Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) can eat hazel leaves but their main diet should be eating leaves classified as belonging to the Rosaceae family, so in practical terms that means bramble/blackberry leaves and rose leaves. Those leaves are what we feed our Indian stick insects and tell others to use, this is stated on this website and the care leaflet included with all stick insects supplied by Small-Life Supplies. Unfortunately neither of the leaves you gave to your stick insects are classified as being from plants belonging to the Rosaceae family and both are unsuitable long-term, so your stick insects have effectively starved to death. My Indian stick insects have a family history of maturing after 5 moults and becoming stunted adults. Another one had its fifth moult a few days ago and I can’t tell whether this one is developing normally or whether it is stunted. It is not laying eggs but it has red armpits (they were pink after the previous moult) and a dark mark on the underside. Does it look like a nymph or a stunted adult? Also, does stunting affect their lifespan? Looking at your photos, I think she is fully grown. The total length that an Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) grows to is 11cm on average, this size is affected by genetic and environmental factors. If you house your stick insects in the ELC cage, they have the best opportunity to grow to their full size because the ELC cage is 51cm high and so allows the stick insects lots of space to grow properly and achieve their full potential. In the breeding stocks of Indian stick insects at Small-Life Supplies, it has been observed that the smaller females can live slightly longer than their larger sisters. We have two baby stick insects in our HAP and they seem to be doing really well. (See picture attached). They have now reached a length of a little over 3.5cm and we realise it may be time to transfer them to the ELC cage. However, my son is concerned that they are so small they will be able to get through the holes in the side of the ELC. He's also a little apprehensive about handling (and in turn hurting) the babies. He's totally fine with handling larger stick insects. Thanks for emailing the photo of your Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) in the HAP. As Indian stick insects grow, they require more ventilation, and because yours are now 3.5cm long, they are ready to be transferred to the ELC cage where they will have lots of space to grow properly into nice healthy adults. One way to move them is to gently blow on them and encourage them to walk on your hand. Or, it might be easier for you to put the HAP inside the ELC cage (with the HAP lid off) and let them walk out (position the HAP next to a white mesh side in the ELC cage). In the coming weeks and months, never squeeze the bodies of the young Indian stick insects because this can harm them. Instead, be patient and try blowing on them gently to encourage them to walk onto your hand. Please reassure your son that there is no risk of them climbing out of the holes in the ELC cage. They are too large to do this and have no desire to even try. I'm labelling a technical illustration of a stick insect's foot. Please can you are tell me the correct technical term for the two "claws" and the "pad" inbetween them? The correct scientific word for the two claws is still claws. But the correct scientific word for the pad inbetween them is "arolium". I believe this Indian stick insect is a sixth instar nymph (adult on the left for comparison). She hasn’t moulted in 4 weeks now, and today I found an egg under her where I know the adult hadn’t been, as I had just cleaned the enclosure. From this picture, does she look like an adult or a sixth instar nymph? She is definitely an adult. She now has the classic appearance of an adult and is laying eggs, which only adults can do. She is not as long as the other adult, so is a stunted adult, but still looks OK. Almost all Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) shed their skins six times, but if you've recorded this one as only shedding her skin five times, this would explain why she is not as large as the other Indian stick insect adults. I need to upgrade my stick insect enclosure and the ELC insect cage looks perfect. I have a pair of Thailand stick insects, Bonnie and Clyde. I'd like to add two of your New Thailand stick insects, so I am just checking that (a) there would be enough space and (b) I will be able to differentiate the new ones (as yet to be named!) and (c) the total shipping is £9.96 (to Abingdon)? Yes, the ELC cage is ideal for two Thailand stick insects (Baculum thaii) and two New Thailand stick insects (Baculum sp). They both eat bramble (blackberry) leaves and live together happily. The New Thailand stick insects are parthenogenetic (99.99% female) and at a quick glance they look similar to the female Thailand stick insect. However, there are three anatomical differences which are easy to spot. Firstly, her head is smooth on top and so does not have the two "earlike" growths seen on the head of the Thailand female. Secondly, she has an orange band on her abdomen, near the tip, and a corresponding little spur underneath. These are absent on the Thailand female. Thirdly, with the the option of growing up to 22cm long, she is usually longer than the adult female Thailand stick insect, typically 18cm long. And yes, total delivery to Abingdon, UK is £9.96. I was wondering what kind of night bulbs to use to help keep the heat. I have a small 25 and a 35 watt ones. I was wondering since walking stick bugs are nocturnal what type of bulb to use. I am at the University of Southern Indiana, USA. Stick insects should be kept at a minimum temperature of 12 -14 degrees Celsius at night, this is 54 -57 degrees Farenheit. So initially, I recommend you measure the night time temperature so you can determine how cold it gets in the room housing the stick insects. If additional night time heating is required, the best solution is to use a portable oil-filled radiator. The 500 Watt version is best, just position this outside the cage, about 30cm or 12 inches away from the cage, and set it on a timer to switch on at night. This equipment emits a gentle warmth, with no light, so is ideal for the stick insects, which as you correctly state are nocturnal. If you must use a light, then a red bulb is best, at low wattage. However, please note that there is an increased fire risk using a light bulb and it can also dry out the surroundings, leading to problems with skin-changes and premature crisping up of the foliage. Help please, we'd like to create a silkworm mini-farm at school (primary), but am reading conflicting advice on-line. One supplier says they must be kept at 25º- 28ºC which is hotter than our classroom! And refrigerate the eggs? But Small-Life Supplies is saying they're easy to rear and all lifecycle stages do well at normal room temperature? The confusion arises because there are two main species of silkmoth commercially available, each requiring different rearing conditions. The ones you have seen from the other supplier are the Chinese domestic silkmoth (Bombyx mori), these are more challenging to keep because they move less, are temperature sensitive, and harder to feed (eating mulberry leaves or artificial food). The other main species of giant silkmoth which Small-Life Supplies rears and sells to British schools and the general public, is the Indian Eri Silkmoth (Samia ricini). These are really easy to keep and breed, requiring a daytime temperature of 18 -21 degrees Celsius and a minimum nightime temperature of approximately 12 degrees Celsius. Those temperatures apply to all the stages, so the eggs, larvae / caterpillars / silkworms and the adult silkmoths. And the Indian Eri silkworms are really easy to feed because they eat privet leaves. Privet is evergreen and can be snipped from privet hedges or you can purchase fresh cut privet from Small-Life Supplies. The Indian Eri silkworms grow large (to 7cm long) and so do best in the ELC insect cage, you can enjoy watching them eating, climbing around and then spinning their silk cocoons on the sides of the cage. My six year old would like stick insects for Christmas. Is it too soon to order these from you? And can delivery be just before Christmas? Stick insects are a great Christmas gift and you can pre-order now from Small-Life Supplies. The ELC cage is supplied ready built and so it's easy to hide the stick insects in there until Christmas Day. You can request delivery of everything in December and we'll let you know the day and approximate time of the delivery. Or, another option is to request "Split Christmas Delivery", whereby you ask for delivery of the ELC cage and accessories in December, and postpone the delivery of the actual stick insects until January (when your home is calmer after the festivities). The second delivery charge on the "Split Christmas Delivery" option is free. My Indian stick insect is reaching the end of her life. She is almost completely unresponsive and is passing away due to old age. I don’t want to bury her too soon, so how can I know for sure when she has passed? Your Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) is dying from old age. It's best to wait another 24 hours after she is completely unresponsive before burying her, just to be completely sure that she has died. I put green leaves of bramble into the Sprig Pot last week and some of the leaves have become yellow. What's weird is that Elowen (my New Guinea stick insect) has eaten a chunk out of a yellow leaf, despite there being plenty of green leaves present? I'm due to get more bramble leaves today, I'm wondering if I should pick some yellow leaves on purpose? Green bramble (blackberry) leaves are more nutritious than yellow bramble leaves and so no, don't gather yellow leaves, but instead continue to gather green leaves. At this time of year (autumn) some bramble leaves turn yellow and then drop off, but there are still plenty of green bramble leaves to be found in sheltered areas outside. Occasionally a stick insect fancies a change and so will gnaw at a bramble stem, or nibble a cage Liner, or eat a yellow leaf. But this behaviour is only transitory and they soon go back to eating nutritious green bramble leaves. New Guinea stick insects (Eurycantha calcarata) drink more water than other types of stick insect, and so it's important that Elowen always has access to a shallow dish of cold tap water in her ELC stick insect cage. We've been enjoying caring for four Indian stick insects since last year and would like to try keeping another sort. We already have the ELC cage and we would like to ask your advice on what type to get next and check that they will happily co-habit with our elderly Indian ladies? Our stick insects are collectively looked after by Tilly (aged ten) and Rosie (aged eight) and me (their mum)! We have lots of bramble growing in the fields behind our house, so would prefer to have stick insects that eat these leaves. It's great that your Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) are a success and that you are collectively ready to move onto to expanding your collection. I'd recommend keeping Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus) next because these live happily in the same ELC cage as Indian stick insects, look completely different, and eat bramble (blackberry) leaves. Small-Life Supplies supply Pink Winged stick insects in packs of two nymphs, so when you receive them they are not fully grown and so don't have their wings yet. However, a couple of months later they will be fully grown and will have nice large pretty pink wings. Your daughters can enjoy taking them out of the ELC cage and watching them fly across the room, their flight is slow and controlled, so there are no issues about it being a stressful experience! A weekly flight is recommended. Or, another option is to choose the Thailand stick insects (Baculum thaii), these are supplied in packs of four (two pairs) and they too will happily live in the same ELC cage as Indian stick insects and also eat bramble (blackberry) leaves. Thailand stick insects are longer and thinner than Indian stick insects and are quite active (especially the adult males), so they are entertaining pets too. This Indian stick insect (with one antenna) is 15 weeks old and I thought she had 5 moults so far. However she looks similar in size to the adult. Can you tell from these photos whether she is an adult or a subadult? Thank you for emailing the photo of these two Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus). The one pictured on the right is an adult female, with two complete antennae, and is looking nice and healthy. The other one looks like she has one more skin-change (ecdysis) to complete before becoming an adult. This is because as well as being shorter than the other one, her abdomen is a different shape too. It is confusing because they both have red tops to their front legs. However this red colouration can sometimes appear in fifth instar nymphs as well as always being present in adults (equivalent to sixth instar nymphs). When this happens, the red colour is vivid in the adults, but usually paler in the fifth instar nymphs. It is odd that the red colouration in your smaller stick insect doesn't look pale, so another possibility is that she is a stunted adult. Either way, the answer will become obvious in a couple of weeks time because she will either shed her skin again or start laying eggs. Do you have any views on eating insects? I visited a tourist bug place and couldn't understand why people in their cafe were giggling whilst eating snacks containing insects? I have always been against killing anything for fun or entertainment. So I am against the selling of the snacks you describe in these places, just for amusement value. Also, I find it weird that somewhere promoting living insects as pets in one room, is selling cooked insects as novelty food in the next room. If you went to a cat or dog place, you wouldn't dream of eating cat or dog burgers there. I've recently been given some Indian stick insects. They are really interesting. I'm feeding them on bramble. But thinking ahead, I was wondering what to feed them in the winter? Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) do best on bramble (blackberry) leaves, and fortunately in the UK these leaves can be found all year round in overgrown places outside. Bramble in exposed areas will lose its leaves in the winter, but bramble growing in sheltered areas keeps most of its leaves and so you can still find green bramble leaves all year round. To conserve your winter stocks of bramble, it's a good idea to feed Indian stick insects with additional leaves, for example hazel leaves and wild rose leaves during the summer months. Do Indian stick insects ever stop laying eggs? One of mine hatched late September 2023 and I'm suddenly seeing less eggs than before (I have another, younger adult). The older one seems to find surfaces such as leaves and hands slippery, is that normal? Egg-laying begins approximately two weeks after an Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) has completed her final skin-change (ecdysis). She continues to lay three eggs every day, on average, for the next seven months. This rate of egg production only slows down in the final weeks of her life. So, when choosing which eggs to save, it's best to save the ones that are being laid when she is at her peak, so dispose of the early eggs and the eggs laid late on in her life because these won't be as good quality as the eggs being produced in her prime. Indian stick insects usually live for one year and when they are old, they lose the grip in their feet, so yes, it is normal that your older stick insect is behaving this way. I've read about freezing stick insect eggs to humanely kill them, is this correct? My wife is having IVF and the cold doesn't kill the eggs. Your doubts are justified. Putting stick insect eggs into a freezer simply arrests their development, and when the eggs are taken out of the freezer and warm up, development begins again. The best ecological method is to feed surplus stick insect eggs to birds and fish. Or, if this is not possible, surplus eggs can be dropped into a fire or into a dish of hot water, both these methods are fast and 100% effective. Many species of stick insect eggs take months to develop and so it's always best to dispose of surplus eggs soon after they have been laid. It is not cruel to do this, because in nature, each female stick insect lays hundreds of eggs during her lifetime, because the vast majority will perish from being eaten, crushed or water logged. Our Indian stick insects are quite lively, but one is more active than the others? We've had them a week and bought them from Small-Life Supplies. Is "Pronto" always going to be like this? She's my son's favourite! Healthy adult Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) are lively when handled and will walk across your hands. As with all animals, there is some variation in behaviour between individual stick insects. So, for example, some are naturally more active than others. The same variation is seen in the flying species, such as the Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus), where some adults are always much keener to fly than others. So Pronto will remain more active throughout her life and so your son can continue to enjoy taking her out of the ELC cage so she can walk across his hands. However, stick insects that are more active do not live quite as long as the less active ones, and so Pronto is likely to be the first one to die of old age, but this is a long way off yet and your son can enjoy saving some of her eggs to hatch out the next generation. I'd like to thank Small-Life Supplies for suggesting I plant plugs of purple sprouting broccoli in outdoor pots to help British butterflies. I tried this with six pots and all six plants soon had eggs on them and I watched the caterpillars grow and I have now seen the white butterflies last month and this month. The lady on the phone told me how to do this, so please let her know it was a great success and I will be repeating this next year! This is great news, here at Small-Life Supplies, we do this too and have a 100% success rate! It's important to help British butterflies but too often the emphasis is on planting the nectar source for the adult butterflies (for example buddleia) and the needs of the eggs and caterpillars (larvae) are completely forgotten, despite being essential parts of the lifecycle. The larval foodplants of the white British butterflies are brassicas, which include cabbages, spring greens and purple sprouted broccoli. The latter can be purchased on-line as small plug plants (so are free of pesticides) and it is very easy to grow purple sprouting broccoli in small flowerpots outside (just add some soil from the garden and water as required). We also scatter some stick insect poo (frass) on top of the soil because this breaks down to make a great fertiliser. Palm Borer Moths are very active, I have caught five in the last week, so I think, as with the Box moth, our Palm trees will not survive this onslaught. Once again the Box Moth (Cydalima perspectalis) has decimated box hedges (Buxus sempervirens) in the UK, but these insects have been here for years and there are now signs that some of the box hedges that superficially look dead are now starting to recover. Certainly in Cambridgeshire UK, I am seeing new growth in box hedges that have looked dead. So it is very unwise to be too hasty and rip out Box hedging that has been eaten by the caterpillars of the Box moth. The same applies to other plants, such as Horse Chestnut trees which have had diseased leaves for about ten years but are now recovering. And of course, older people may remember the fiasco decades ago of "Dutch Elm disease" where lots of affected trees were quickly felled, even though it was later found that many diseased trees can recover in due course. So it is likely that Palm trees will be able to recover from attacks by the caterpillars of the Palm Borer moths, although this recovery may take years. I get that Indian stick insects are parthenogenetic and 99.99% are female. I am hoping to see a male one day, but it hasn't happened yet. Is there still ongoing university research into this area? Yes, research on this topic is still progressing at esteemed research institutions. The estimate of about 1 in every 10000 female Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) being a true rare male is correct, and is borne out by the frequency we are recording rare males at Small-Life Supplies (we breed huge numbers of Indian stick insects and it is really obvious when a rare male occurs). Recent university research in Switzerland has recorded mating between rare male stick insects and the females from parthenogenetic species. Originally there was some doubt as to whether this was possible, but there is now enough recorded and observational evidence to confirm that it happens, albeit briefly. Last weekend I bought a couple of fully grown female Heteropteryx dilatata stick insects from a pet shop that was closing down. They came with their housing which is a glass tank with a black mesh lid. The stick insects looked wet and there was a layer of dead leaves and other detritus on the floor (it smells and some of it looks mouldy). Unfortunately their legs don't seem to work properly? I attach a photo hoping you can advise on what I should do next? Unfortunately your Malaysian stick insects (Heteropteryx dilatata) have been raised incorrectly which is why they have health issues. I can see from your photo that some of the legs have black fungal growth at the areas where the legs join the body. This infection occurs when the stick insects have been kept too damp, usually from being sprayed directly with water and being housed in a tank with insufficient air-flow. The black areas restrict movement for those legs and they will not recover. However, you can take action to improve the quality of life for your stick insects and stop the black fungal growth areas from increasing and spreading to other leg joints. Firstly, never spray the actual stick insects with water, and only lightly mist the bramble leaves with water. Secondly, provide a shallow water dish full of cold clean tap water because Malaysian stick insects do like to drink a lot of water. Thirdly, clean the glass tank thoroughly with diluted bleach, rinse well and dry thoroughly. And finally place loose paper sheets (for example A4 copier paper cut to size) on the floor of the tank because this is an effective method to help keep the surroundings clean (replace the paper weekly). This Indian stick insects adult has been bending and straightening her left middle foot repeatedly when resting - is this a sign of issues or just normal behaviour? Thank you for emailing the short video of your Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) showing this behaviour. Many animals, including cats, can twitch slightly when they are asleep, it is acknowledged to be a sign that they are dreaming. So one possibility could be that your stick insect was dreaming (assuming stick insects have the capacity to dream?). Another explanation is that there was something air-borne that was irritating her foot, which is why she was flexing it gently in this manner. Either way, it is an interesting observation, but fortunately it is unlikely to be a symptom of a health issue. Tilly, my female Thai stick insect, has just completed her final moult, but instead of being long and straight, the top of her body is curved and looks bent (see photo attached). Her enclosure is a 25cm high acrylic terrarium with pre-drilled air holes. Her younger sisters look OK still, but I'm worried there may be a genetic anomaly at work here? Thanks for emailing the photo, I can instantly identify what the issue is. Her deformity is not genetic, it has been caused by housing her in an enclosure that is far too small. When stick insects grow, they slide downwards out of their old skins and so need plenty of height in the cage to be able to do this properly. So stick insects need to be housed in a cage at least 48cm high (the ELC stick insect cage is 51cm high). An enclosure that is only 25cm tall is nowhere near tall enough and so when a long stick insect such as a Thailand stick insect (Baculum thaii) tries to shed her skin, there is not enough space. So whilst sliding out of her old skin she runs out of space and hits the floor where her new skin hardens in the classic hunch back deformed shape on the thorax. Sometimes the abdomen is bent too, because there is not enough space for the stick insect to stretch out and allow her new soft skin to harden in the correct shape. Thailand stick insect females grow to 18cm long. So, to prevent your other stick insects suffering the same fate as they mature, I'd recommend you re-house them in a much taller enclosure, the ELC cage is ideal for housing up to six adult Thailand stick insects (ideally there pairs). Hey Small-Life Supplies! Are you doing the AES show? Small-Life Supplies is not exhibiting at the AES show this year. This annual event is once again being held indoors at Kempton Park racecourse in Surrey, UK and when Small-Life Supplies has exhibited at this event in previous years, there have been stands promoting nature groups and societies, and others selling dead insects, entomological equipment, books, and art. There have been a few spider stands at this event, but arachnids have never dominated it. This is in complete contrast to the plethora of small British events advertised as "Invert fairs" but actually comprise mostly of stands selling live spiders and other stands selling novelty skulls, coffins and other "decor" for spider tanks. Can stick insects chew through mesh? My adult Indian sticks bite it occasionally. Also, is it normal for them to eat tissue? There are bite marks on the tissue. Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) can chew through some fabric mesh, they can also eat tissue and paper. The reason they do this is not understood, but eating small quantities of these items does not appear to harm the stick insects. The ELC cage is constructed from strong plastic which is impossible for stick insects to eat. The mesh on the ELC cage is not made from fabric but is thick plastic full of specially made holes, so these features make the ELC cage a very durable cage. My daughter has recently been given four Indian stick insect in a small cage. I was wondering if I could get another variety to live alongside? Yes, Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) can be kept in the same cage as Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus) and Thailand stick insects (Baculum thaii). The best cage to house these stick insects is the ELC stick insect cage. This cage is 51cm high and has two mesh sides which is ideal for these stick insects. They all eat bramble (blackberry) leaves and live happily together. I'm so glad that I found your site, it's been a mine of information and of great support (I'm a primary school teacher). Our current topic is silkmoths and I thought it would be nice if each child could have their own silk cocoon to hold (empty of course!). What do you think, I assume they are not overly fragile? And, more importantly, would you have around forty silk cocoons available? We're hoping to keep the real silkmoths soon, and are already on your waiting-list for the silkworms! That's a great idea, it's so important for children to actually hold and touch nature, rather than just look at images on-line and in books. And yes, Small-Life Supplies breed lots of Giant Indian Eri silkmoths (Samia ricini) and so always have loads of empty silk cocoons for sale, so forty is no problem at all. Silk is a very strong thread and so the silk cocoon is robust and can be examined closely. It's great that you will also be looking after the silkmoth caterpillars soon, these are still too young to send out at the moment, but should be up to size within weeks. They are easy to look after in the ELC cage and eat privet leaves. I'm keeping Indian stick insects for the first time and have a couple of questions. I keep seven insects about the same age in a ELS cage, they all hatched between 4 to 19 of June. They've started to lay eggs this week (which was quite exciting!). Are the first eggs viable? I'll do the math and try to keep eggs that will hatch when my current stick insects are gone (of old age I hope). For the next generation, I would like to mix some Pink Winged stick insects with my Indian ones. Should I buy the Pink Winged nymphs when my next generation of Indian stick insects have hatched so they'll be the same age? Your Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) have matured faster than usual (three months instead of the standard five months), perhaps they are being kept in a warm room? Ideally, Indian stick insects should be kept in a room with a daytime temperature of 18-21 degrees Celsius and a night time temperature of 12 degrees Celsius. The first eggs laid are not the best quality, so it's best to wait a few weeks before saving the eggs. There's room in the ELS cage for seven adult Indian stick insects and two adult Pink Winged stick insects (Siyloidea sipylus), so you could purchase the Pink Winged nymphs now if you wish. There is no problem with mixing these two species together in the same cage, either as adults together, nymphs together, or a mixture of adults and nymphs together. I have 3 adult Lonchodiodes sp. "Ilocos", two males and a female. The males are constantly mating with her. One will spend about 6 hours with her then when he leaves the other one latches on. I've started taking her out into another cage for a few hours so she gets peace to eat. Am I doing the right thing? It's always best to have roughly equal numbers of male and female stick insects in a cage, so it would help if you could acquire another adult female. Many species of stick insect mate briefly, but other species copulate for hours at a time. It's not good to disturb mating insects and it is for this reason that Small-Life Supplies does not breed stick insect species that mate for very long periods, including the Vietnamese stick insect (Nuichua rabaeyae) which can mate continuously for two months! Adult female stick insects are always much larger than adult male stick insects and so it is the stronger female that determines when she wants to eat and if she wants a rest from mating. However, it is important that she is not outnumbered, so getting another female would be the best solution. My daughter loves art and is compiling her portfolio of insect paintings. She's fourteeen but very gifted and I was wondering if Small-Life Supplies would consider giving her the opportunity to showcase some of her work on your "Art and Specimens" webpage? Naturally, we wouldn't expect any payment, but the prestige of having this publicity would be of real help and support to her. It's great that your daughter likes to create insect paintings. And yes, please phone Small-Life Supplies on 01733 913480 to discuss your proposal. The size of the paintings needs to be A4 and can be either landscape or portrait. Small-Life Supplies is always keen to help people promote insects and happy to give new insect artists a boost. Please explain about the controversy concerning the name change for Sunnys, formerly Sungaya inexpectata but now Sungaya aeta or Sungaya sp "ilanin"? In 2008 Sungaya sp "Ilanin" was discovered in the Ilanin forest in Bataan province, West Luzon in the Philippines. Captive breeding of this species began in earnest. Following standard practice, this stick insect was tentatively assigned a genus followed by "sp" (abbreviation for species), pending further identification. Fifteen years later, in 2023, the formal identification was finally announced, this species being declared as Sungaya aeta, a sexually dimorphic species, ie males and females look different, with males and females in approximately equal numbers. Unfortunately, in the intervening years there has been widespread confusion with descendants of that breeding stock being mis-sold as Sungaya inexpectata, which has some similarities in appearance, but is a different species and is parthenogenetic. What do stick insects need for substrate? Paper sheet is the best substrate for stick insects. This is because it can be replaced easily once a week so that the stick insects are kept in clean surroundings. And, very importantly, it is easy to spot eggs on a paper sheet, so you can pick out the eggs you wish to save and dispose of the unwanted ones. It is not a good idea to use granular substrates such as soil, earth, sand, vermiculite, peat and gravel because the eggs and poo (frass) get trapped in there and this leads to unhygienic conditions and, in time, a potential population explosion of stick insects. I read this on another nature page and thought her account would resonate with your followers: "I have lots of Privet and Privet Hawks to go with it (and Poplar Hawks too pruning my Poplar). No need to worry about cutting the privet hedge any more - the Privet Hawks will do that in no time at all! I always loved the Butterfly world, never thought of trying to protect and breed them. I only have an unheated greenhouse to share with my livestock and get particularly thrilled when, having put a cage with female Poplar Hawk moth in it out in the garden for the night, I find a male hanging on to the outside of the cage in the morning - waiting for the door to be opened and be invited in! I'm 86 now so not active as I was in being able to go 'bug hunting'. However, I am lucky enough to live in the middle of a field and have a largish garden, so do quite well. What a shame that there are people who do not like Butterflies, and Moths in particular. Moths being just as beautiful as butterflies when they open their wings." Thanks for sharing this, and yes the author clearly conveys the satisfaction reaped from rearing British hawk moths, and at the same time helping sustain these populations in the wild. And she is correct in highlighting the negativity many people feel towards moths, I find this attitude arises from ignorance, people mistakenly believing that "clothes moths" are representative of all moths! Whereas of course in reality there are masses of colourful and beautiful moths in the UK (and of course the number of species of moths far outnumbers that of butterflies). What are the first signs of old age in stick insects? My Indian stick insect is 11 months old and doing well, though I have noticed she is very thirsty - she has just drank almost non stop for 20 minutes! Is this a sign that she might be becoming ill? Is it possible for an old stick to drink too much water? Can drinking a lot be bad? It is normal for old stick insects to drink more water and for stick insects dying from old age to drink even more. It is also normal for hot stick insects to drink more water. An Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) only drinks when she is thirsty, so you did the right thing in letting her drink for as long as she wanted to. Signs of old age in Indian stick insects include: extra thirst, loss of grip in the feet (front feet usually affected first), lethargy, reduced appetite and body duller in appearance. During the next few days it will be obvious if your stick insect just got too hot and needed a one-off long drink to rehydrate, or if she is nearing the end of her life and continues to drink and show more of the symptoms listed above. Indian stick insects usually live for approximately one year, but this is an average figure, so some individuals live a month or so less whilst others live a month or so more. Where can I buy Eucalyptus leaves for my Australian stick insects? I live in the UK but am reluctant to purchase from a garden centre because of the high risk of pesticides. Small-Life Supplies have huge Eucalyptus gunnii trees which we regularly harvest and a courier delivers the fresh cut stems and small branches nationwide. They keep fresh for several weeks if stood in a bucket of water outside. The price for a large box (approx 60cm high) stuffed full of fresh cut eucalyptus is £24, including mainland UK delivery (excluding Scottish Highlands). Or a smaller quantity is £16.50. To purchase, please phone Small-Life Supplies on 01733 913480 with credit/debit card, or email cindi@small-life.co.uk if you'd prefer to use PayPal or Bank Transfer. Eucalyptus gunnii leaves are eaten by Australian Macleays Spectre stick insects (Extatosoma tiaratum), Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus) and Grenadan green bean stick insects (Diapherodes gigantea). On our large bramble patch, we've noticed that some of the leaves are going yellow and there are dead stems underneath, but strangely there are lots of green leaves and stems on top? We are concerned that this plant may be dying, is there anything we can do to help it? The good news is that your plant is not dying, it is fine and looking exactly like it is supposed to. Bramble bushes grow upwards, with the lower stems dying off and very long new green stems (or two-tone green and purple stems) growing above. If you have a bramble bush in your garden, or one that you have planted against a fence or wall, you need to cut out the dead stems when you see them, otherwise the plant will just get taller and taller, with lots of dead stems visible. In wild overgrown areas, deer often rest in the dead areas of these bushes. The yellow bramble leaves are normal as we approach autumn, so you can snip them off and discard them. Although some of the leaves will turn yellow and be unsuitable for your stick insects, your bramble plant should still have lots of green leaves that will remain green throughout the winter months. We've had our colony of Indian stick insects in the ELC cage for about six months now and they are a much loved part of the family. A cleaning sponge was sent as part of the cage bundle and I am now ready to use it for the first time. Any tips on what detergent to use and how hot the water can be? Great to hear that your Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) are a successful addition to your family. We use dilute bleach to clean our ELC cages, applying this to the soft cleaning sponge and rubbing this on all the clear panels, the white ventilated sides, and the grey base. It is very important to dilute the bleach in lukewarm or cold water. Never use hot water because this will permanently distort the plastic. Always rinse the cage thoroughly in cold water and dry with a soft cotton tea towel. Do sticks like being handled? Sometimes my Indian sticks won’t let me hold them, other times they happily walk all the way up my arm. Yes, Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) respond well to handling and this is one of the reasons why people enjoy keeping stick insects as pets. It's a good idea to get them used to a routine, so try handling them at approximately the same time every day, so they get used to this and will be active around this time. If you have Indian stick insects nymphs (immature stick insects), it's important to look at the body of the stick insect before you handle her to see how fat it looks. If it looks fat and is dull, do not handle the stick insect because a skin-change (ecdysis) is imminent and she is conserving her energy for this event. Or, if her body looks pale and thin, do not handle her because she has recently completed a skin-change and is weak, so needs time to rest and recover. I’ve seen that delayed moulting can be a sign of a less healthy stick, but is it the same for sticks that moult earlier than expected? Two of my Indian stick insects have had their first moult at 14 days old instead of 3 weeks old, and wasn’t sure if this was normal. No, if a stick insect is ill, the growth is always slower than expected. The reason why your stick insects are growing faster than expected is because of the hot weather we have been experiencing in the UK recently. Hotter temperatures always accelerate growth, both for the incubating eggs and the growing stick insect nymphs. This is not a good thing, so during very hot spells, it is best to move your cage of stick insects to a room that is between 18 and 21 degrees Celsius during the day. Keeping curtains and blinds closed during the day and placing ice packs on the top of the cages also helps to reduce the temperature inside the cages housing stick insects. One of my Pink Winged stick insects has passed away. I'm concerned because I received them as older nymphs in late February and I'm fairly sure their average lifespan is longer than that. I noticed no prior signs of decline and she was in fact the more active and capable flier of the two even up to a week ago. My dead Pink Wing has a large dark patch on her underside which I know can indicate a fungal infection, however as I'm not sure how long she's been dead (certainly no longer than a week), I don't know if it's just decay? I spray the leaves every night and have been increasing how much water I use during the hotter weather as I was concerned about dehydration but the cage is not noticeably more humid, with no condensation or anything. I've been doing my best to keep them cool during the warmer weather including putting an ice pack on top of the ELC cage. Thank you for emailing me the photos of your dead and alive Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus). Fortunately your stick insects do not have any sort of fungal infection. The black patch on the underside is decay following death. It is always the most active flyers that die first. The hot weather may have also been a contributory factor, but you have acted correctly by cooling the cage down and providing more water to drink. Hopefully you will be seeing the next generation soon, the newly hatched Pink Winged are large and pale green and usually rest underneath the ELC cage roof. Are some stick insects more difficult to care for than others? Yes, some species of stick insect are more challenging to keep than others. So it's best to start with an easy-to-keep type, such as the Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus). Other easy stick insects include the Pink Winged stick insect (Sipyloidea sipylus) and the Thailand stick insects (Baculum thaii). More difficult species of stick insect include the Malaysian "Jungle Nymph" stick insect (Heteropteryx dilatata) and the long Australian Titan stick insect (Acrophylla wuelfingi), so these are better suited to people who have more experience. Avoid the dangerous types altogether, such as the Florida stick insect (Anisomorpha buprestoides) because these dangerous stick insects emit a spray which can cause temporary blindness in people and pets. Are mesh walls better or worse than a mesh roof for successful moulting in stick insects? Mesh walls are much better than a mesh roof. This is because the stick insect can get a good foothold on the mesh and then slide vertically downward against the wall to safely complete its skin-change (ecdysis). A stick insect that attempts to moult from the roof sways around and so is less protected than being close to a wall, and being so exposed puts the stick insect at increased risk of something going wrong during this vulnerable time. The ELC stick insect cage has two mesh walls and is ideal housing for many species of stick insect. I so want your New Guinea stick insects, they look gorgeous! Your images show green nymphs, my question is do any stay green or do they always go brown as they mature? New Guinea stick insects (Eurycantha calcarata) change colour several times during their lives. The newly hatched stick insects (called first instar nymphs) are always dark grey, but as they grow, they change colour and become all-green, or all-brown or sometimes a mottled green/brown. As these individuals mature, most females become pale brown although very occasionally a female will remain pale green. The vast majority of adult males are a glossy dark brown, but we have seen a few that are light brown. The gloss finish on the males' bodies fade as they age, so the body of a three year old adult male will look dull and matt in comparison to a male that is only one year old. How do I hatch Indian and Pink Winged stick insect eggs and care for their nymphs? Do I just leave the Pink Wing eggs on the side of the cage on the hatch mat? Also how many adults of each species can you keep together in a mixed-species ELC cage? Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus) are very large when they hatch (43mm) and like airy surroundings from birth. So detach the Hatch Mat from the outside of the ELC cage and place it inside the ELC cage when hatching is imminent (the egg incubation time for Pink Winged stick insects is approximately three months). Keep the Indian stick insect eggs (Carausius morosus) separately in a HAP. This is an unventilated container and the Indian stick insect eggs will hatch in approximately four months. No attention is required during this time, so just place the eggs in the HAP and wait. Do not spray with water. The newly hatched Indian stick insects prefer less ventilated surroundings and so keep them in the HAP for the first few weeks of their lives, feeding them with a fresh wet bramble leaf. The ELC cage will comfortably house ten adult Indian stick insects and six adult Pink Winged stick insects. These two species live happily together.

We saved six Indian stick insect eggs on the 5th May 2024 (my son is very diligent about labelling things) and we were greeted this morning by five babies! We are so pleased and so glad that your instructions about just leaving them alone in the HAP enclosure have worked! Is the remaining egg likely to hatch? And how come they have hatched so quickly, my son said it should be a four month incubation, not three!
Congratulations on your new arrivals,technically called "first instar nymphs". You now need to put a wet bramble leaf in the HAP because the babies are thirsty and will need a drink. The recent hot weather in the UK has accelerated the development of stick insect eggs, so many people are seeing their eggs hatch earlier than usual. Your son is correct in believing that four months is the standard incubation time for Indian stick insect eggs (Carausius morosus), but this is temperature dependent so is shortened when it is hotter and lengthened when it is cooler. When kept in the HAP, the Indian stick insect eggs have a very high success rate in hatching, so it is very likely that your remaining egg will hatch within the next week or so.

Lying in bed last night I had a mosquito doing that high pitched whining sound around my head, which made me wonder how do mosquitoes make this noise? I waved it away with my arm but it kept returning and landed on my arm and then on my ankle. This morning I thought I'd have some mosquoito bites but there weren't any? Surely British mosquitoes bite?
It is likely you had a female Culex pipiens mosquito in your bedroom. The female beats her wings very fast, at an incredible 500 wing beats per second (this is 500 Hz) and it is this action that makes the high pitched buzzing noise. The females drink red blood but Culex pipiens prefers to bite birds for this purpose. It is another species, Culex molestus, that prefers to bite humans. The males have bushy antennae and feed on nectar from plants, so they do not bite animals.

Do stick insects sleep? I often see my Indian sticks resting with their front legs outstretched and wondered if they were sleeping when they do this?
Yes, like most animals, stick insects sleep for hours at a time. Stick insects usually sleep a lot during the day and are awake and most active at night when it is dark. That is why it is so important to place the ELC cage of stick insects in a room that is light during the day and dark at night.

For the first time in years, our cat - & therefore our home - has a flea infestation. We can treat the cat safely, but need to treat the house as well for this to be effective. Is there any way we can use Indorex spray around the house (one spray needed annually) & still keep our thriving tank of phasmids safe?
No, it is a death sentence for your stick insects to be spraying any product containing permethrin in your home. Instead, pet cats can be effectively treated every month with a "Stronghold" spot-on application on their necks, and kept outside or in a different room for the rest of the day to safeguard the stick insects. Doing this prevents major cat flea outbreaks. Residual cat fleas in the home can be hoovered up with a powerful domestic vacuum cleaner, for example a Dyson. But as you have an infestation, a safe effective way to deal with this is by steam cleaning with a domestic steam cleaner and vacuuming when dry. It is more effort but is the best option.

We have Indian stick insects aged two months in a HAP. I have an ELC cage ready for them but my only concern is that their bodies are still slimmer than the holes on the side panels. I don't fancy trying to find any escapees. There isn't a chance of them wiggling out is there?
At two months old, your Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) are ready to be transferred to the the ELC cage. There is no risk of them wiggling through the ventilation holes in the ELC cage, they simply do not do this. Some people house their younger stick insects in the ELC cage, but we have found that the Indian stick insects prefer less-ventilated conditions when they are very young which is why we recommend the HAP housing as their nursery enclosure. However when Indian stick insects are 3.5cm long and larger, they prefer more ventilation, so that is why the optimum time to transfer them to the ventilated ELC cage is when they have a total length (includes body and outstretched legs) of 3.5cm. They reach this size at approximately two months old.

So, our stick insects were outside, on my garden table, because I have space to clean the ELC stick insect cage out there and it's peaceful. I have garden blackbirds and one just flew onto the table, grabbed a stick insect in their beak and flew off with it! It was one of my winged Pink Winged stick insects! I was shocked, I imagine the stick insect is food for the chicks, but will they be OK eating it because it is not a native insect?
In the UK, the months of gloomy weather and excessive rain have had a detrimental effect on certain insect populations, including butterflies and moths. At this time of year, the birds need to feed huge numbers of caterpillars to their young, and are looking for other insects because there aren't enough caterpillars. Fortunately, garden birds including blackbirds, thrushes, robins and magpies are all equipped to eat Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus) safely. So your adult Pink Winged stick insect will have been a filling meal for some baby blackbirds.

Are Indian stick insects being studied at universities?
Yes, the University of Cologne, Germany, has recently published a 2024 paper about the locomotion of Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus). The work was focussed on the CPGs (Central Pattern Generators) located in the insects' legs.

Regarding mating of rare male Indian stick insects.... does that mean if the males mate with the females you will have a mixture of both sexes in the next generation?
Small-Life Supplies breeds Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) in large numbers. The probability of a true male Indian stick insect (this is not a gynandromorph) occurring is very rare, at 0.01%, which is 1 in 10000. Over the decades, Small-Life Supplies has witnessed a few of these rare males and have kept the eggs from that cage separate from those cages just housing the parthenogenetic females. But the stick insects which hatch from those eggs are still 99.99% female, so no, for Indian stick insects, the mating process does not appear to affect the gender of the offspring.

This Indian stick insect is a year old and is doing well. It has started dripping orange transparent liquid from its tail, which appears black and crusty. It is also turning darker and developing dark spots. It is completely healthy, so what could be causing the spots and dripping?
The photos you have attached show that this Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) has an infection which is why her body has dark spots. This can be a result of being housed in too damp an environment, or eating leaves which have too high a water content, or both. The best housing for Indian stick insects is a cage with two mesh sides that provide a through-draught of air (the ELC cage is ideal). A tank with solid walls and a ventilated top does not provide this air circulation. It's important not to put too much foliage in the cage because this can lead to damp stagnant conditions, so if you only have a few stick insects, just one Sprig Pot of bramble is sufficient. With the excessive rain we have had in the UK in recent months, a lot of the bramble leaves are large but really thin and so you need to look for the thicker leaves because these will be more nutritious for your stick insects. You can also gather hazel leaves and wild rose leaves for your stick insects. The fact your stick insect is exuding liquid in this way indicates she has too much water in her body. Unfortunately she won't get better but you can ease her final weeks by following the advice above.

Where can I get a stick insect care sheet for beginners? My son wants stick insects for his birthday and so I'd like to do my research first.
A detailed colour stick insect care leaflet is included with all stick insects supplied by Small-Life Supplies. The best stick insects to start with are the Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus), and the ELC stick insect cage is the best enclosure for them. Before purchasing stick insects, check you can find bramble (blackberry) leaves growing locally (or you can have Fresh Cut Bramble delivered by Small-Life Supplies).

This afternoon I found that one of my longer shaped eggs was hatching . It’s a tiny bright green hatchling — not Indian so either Pink Winged or Thai. Can you distinguish between these when newly hatched? And any obvious male / female distinctive features ? My granddaughter has already laid claims to it . Which is the sort of interest that I hoped I’d cultivate in at least one of my four grandchildren. Thank you for helping our success. Food - mashed moist bramble leaves ?
Congratulations on your baby Pink Winged stick insect (Sipyloidea sipylus), technically called a first instar nymph. Newly hatched Thailand stick insects (Baculum thaii) are much smaller and orangey brown in colour. Pink Winged stick insects are parthenogenetic (99.99% female). Thailand stick insects have males and females in roughly equal numbers, but their anatomical differences only become apparent when they have completed several skin-changes and so are considerably larger. Keep these hatchlings in the ELC cage with your older stick insects and mist the bramble (blackberry) leaves lightly with water so they can drink. Your current newly hatched Pink Winged stick insect will be able to nibble a bramble leaf straight away, so no need to do anything to the leaves.

Are some British caterpillars easier to handle than others? I've been considering having a go at keeping caterpillars for a while now, but I'm a bit worried I may accidentally damage them during handling? Also, is it always possible to buy the fresh leaves from Small-Life Supplies? I have mobility issues, so I need to be 100% sure I can get their food delivered.
Small-Life Supplies breed and supply different species of British caterpillars, and yes, some are easier to handle than others. The easiest are the British Vapourer caterpillars (Orgyia antiqua), these are nice and active and readily walk across your hands. They eat bramble (blackberry) leaves. The Indian Eri silk worm caterpillars (Samia ricini) are much larger, but are slow moving and can get a very firm grip. So if you want to move one that is resting on the privet, it's best to cut around the privet rather than try and pull the caterpillar off. And yes, there is no problem in Small-Life Supplies guaranteeing delivery of fresh privet and fresh bramble for these caterpillars. Another type we rear are the British Eyed Hawk-moth caterpillars (Smerinthus ocellata). These would not be suitable for you, because they eat sallow leaves which wilt very quickly (even when the cut stems are in water) , so Small-Life Supplies does not deliver fresh cut sallow. Also, the British Eyed Hawk-moth caterpillars do not respond well to being handled and so are best left on the sallow, either resting or eating the leaves.

Three out of my four nymphs from the same parent have now died due to genetic weaknesses - the fourth one is mature and thriving. An egg from a different but related parent hatched almost a week ago - does this Indian stick insect nymph look healthy?
Thank you for emailing the photos of your first instar Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) nymph. Her right antenna is good but her left antenna is shorter than it should be, at approximately 60%. At that length it's not a serious loss, so she will be able to function OK. She is holding herself well too, which is a good sign.

Are stick insects easy to care for?
Yes, stick insects are very low maintenance pets. Stick insects only need a fresh supply of bramble leaves once a week and the cage Liner to be replaced once a week. Keep the leaves fresh by standing the cut stems in a Sprig Pot of cold tap water. The best housing for stick insects is the ELC cage which is 51cm tall and has two full mesh sides providing the optimum ventilation that most stick insects need.

There seem to be some tiny white insects (mites?). I guess from the leaves. Are these likely to be harmful to the stick insects?
There is no need to worry about tiny white insects you are seeing, these have come off the bramble leaves and do not harm stick insects. They could be whitefly, but they are definitely not mites. It's spiders that you need to watch out for because these can harm stick insects. So it's best to shake your bramble sprigs outside before putting them in the Sprig Pot of cold tap water. Also do a quick visual check for any spiders that may be hiding under the leaves and if you find any, place these spiders back outdoors.

I thought your followers would be interested to read this explanation regarding true male Indian stick insects not being gynandromorphs. This was written by Dr Francis Seow Choen, author of stick insect books in Singapore. "The word gynandromorph means a form having both gynaecoid and android features. If it only has male features, and it does not have female features, then it's a parthenogenetic male, not a gynandromorph. My parthenogenetic male Sipyloidea sipylus mated with several different females once it became adult. So your parthenogenetic Carausius morosus male will mate with the females like what Dorothy Floyd said it will."
Thank you for sharing this, and it is interesting that Francis has witnessed the really rare male Pink Winged stick insect (Sipyloidea sipylus) mating with females. It is established that mating between the really rare male Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) occurs with the females, so it logical that this behaviour would occur in other species that are predominantly female, and now Francis has confirmed this.

These two Indian stick insects hatched within a few days of each other in mid-March - one has just matured and the other one has only had three moults. Can the smaller one survive if it stays this size? I recently lost another slow growing stick due to illness.
Thanks for emailing the photo, I can see you have a nice healthy adult Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) with all six legs and complete antennae. Unfortunately the stick insect beside her is stunted and has badly damaged antennae. She is like this because of her poor genetics, fortunately she is not diseased. She is likely to die prematurely, maybe not even reaching adulthood. Even if she does mature, she is unlikely to lay eggs, but this isn't an issue because you wouldn't want to save her poor quality eggs anyway. However, she does have all six legs and so can continue to live happily alongside your other stick insects until she dies of natural causes.

We are thrilled because we have two baby New Guinea stick insects, hatching last night! We have popped them in the HAP with a wet bramble leaf, hope that's right? Their parents liked to eat hazel leaves and so we would like to know how soon the babies can eat hazel leaves? Or are they better off eating bramble leaves until they are a little older? Also, Tom (my son) asked me to let you know that stick insects are the best pets ever!
It's great that Tom likes his stick insects and congratulations on hatching out some New Guinea stick insects (Eurycantha calcarata), because these can be more difficult to hatch out than some other types. And yes, you are looking after them correctly by housing the babies in the HAP with a wet bramble leaf. Here at Small-Life Supplies, we always feed the baby (first instar nymphs) New Guinea stick insects with wet bramble leaves. We delay giving them hazel leaves until the stick insects have completed at least one skin change (ecdysis). We also ensure that their main diet is bramble (blackberry) leaves, and so the hazel leaves (and also rose leaves) are always an optional extra, not a total substitute.

I'm researching mosquito behaviour, specifically how they get through the holes in mosquito nets. Do they look around for a hole? What's the minimum size of hole they can get through?
Commercial suppliers of mosquito nets quote the World Health Organisation recommendation that mosquito nets should be made from durable polyester and have an aperture size not exceeding 1.75mm. Or, in imperial units, that equates to no more than 165 holes per square inch. In 2018 research at the University of Central Florida, USA, found that Yellow Fever mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti) did not rely on their eyes to seek out rips and tears in the netting, but instead found any such large holes by a chance fly-by. Interestingly these mosquitoes didn't bother to crawl through 8mm holes even though they physically could. But they would fly through a larger hole (10mm across) without hesitation because this was easy to do!

I work from home and this week has been so hot, it's now 28 degrees! I have my large pedestal fan on full blast, but am worried about my stick insects. They are Indian ones (in the ELC cage) and they seem very restless, which must be because of the heat as they're not usually like this. What should I do to help them?
Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) do not thrive in hot surroundings, so ideally should be in a room with a daytime temperature of 18 - 21 degrees Celsius during the day, and 12- 14 degrees Celsius at night. Indian stick insects can tolerate higher temperatures (up to 25 degrees Celsius) for short spells of a few days. However, hotter temperatures are problematic and above 30 degrees Celsius can be fatal. So, you need to move your cage of Indian stick insects to a cooler part of your home, if possible. Also, you need to mist the bramble leaves several times a day with cold tap water so that your stick insects can drink. Like many other animals, stick insects are more thirsty when it is hot. You could also try cooling the cage down by placing a frozen icepack on the roof of the ELC cage, this can drop the interior temperature of the cage by a couple of degrees.

I'm considering keeping stick insects but am scared about handling them. If I went ahead is it essential that I handle them, or could I avoid this somehow? And if they must be handled, are some species easier to handle than others?
There are a few dangerous species of stick insect ,for example the Florida/devil rider/white stripe stick insect, (Anisomorpha buprestoides) which can cause temporary blindness in people and pets, but the stick insect species that Small-Life Supplies breed and supply are all harmless and safe to handle. The easiest ones to handle are adult Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus). Our stick insects are used to being handled and part of the enjoyment of keeping stick insects is to handle them and let them walk across your hands and along a table. Perhaps you could minimise handling them initially and then increase handling of them when you get used to them? The stick insects have sensory pads on their feet and soon learn to recognise the scent of your hands, so become more relaxed and easier to handle with more handling.

My daughter insisted I ask you if we can treat our cats with Stronghold in the same room as the stick insects? As it's just applying drops to the back of the cat's neck I said I thought it's be OK, but she said no, check with the stick insect expert first!
I'm so glad you checked first because no, you should never apply Stronghold or Frontline in the same room as stick insects, and you should also keep the treated cat out of that room for the rest of the day (as the air-borne chemicals disperse from the cat). Unfortunately too many people don't realise this and so their stick insects are doomed to die a horrible death from chemical poisoning. It's really obvious when the stick insects have been poisoned by airborne chemicals because the stick insects lose control of their nervous system and their legs twitch uncontrollably.

The zoology course I'm on is currently focussing on insect reproduction, and I wondered what the latest evidence is regarding the input of the rare males in parthenogenetic species of stick insects?
With Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus), the rare true males (not gynandromorphs) do mate briefly with the standard females. This has been observed by various people in the UK who stay up at night to witness this! In 2023, joint research published by the University of Bangor, UK and the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, provides scientific evidence that this behaviour also occurs with the Tinema douglasi and Tinema monikensis species of stick insect. Those species are also parthenogenetic but do have true males occuring very rarely. So, it is logical to propose that this practice also occurs amongst other parthenogenetic species of stick insects (for example Sipyloidea sipylus) where the vast majority of individuals are female but very occasionally a true male is produced.

Have we killed off all the butterflies? My garden has buddleia in flower but, unlike last year, there are zero butterflies? Not even a solitary Large White?
Butterflies have the ability to determine when they emerge from their pupae. So, if the weather is wet and gloomy, the butterfly can delay emerging form its pupa. When we reared large numbers of Large White butterflies (Pieris brassicae) we noticed some of these pupae extended this phase for a whole year! And at the moment, I know that some captive breeders of Large White butterflies (Pieris brassicae) are reporting that hardly any of their butterflies are emerging at the moment, but that their pupae are definitely still alive. So, it is very likely that there will be a surge of butterflies once we have a prolonged sunny spell in the UK instead of the cold, gloomy and wet weather we have been experiencing in recent weeks. Unfortunately though, the caterpillars that emerged in Spring will have had a higher mortality than usual because caterpillars don't thrive in cold wet conditions.

I want a guide to stick insects that helps me care for them properly and is an entertaining read! Any recommendations?
The best guide to stick insects is "Keeping Stick Insects" by Dorothy Floyd, this book has been available for a long time but the information is still current. The book has been written to answer the questions people have about keeping stick insects and this is why people are still buying new copies of "Keeping Stick Insects". It remains an influential guide on the subject and explains about the differing behaviour of popular stick insects including Indian, Pink Winged, Thailand, Corsican, Javanese, New Guinea and Australian Macleays Spectre stick insects.

I have noticed that my 11 month old Indian stick insect is laying far fewer eggs than before, and also doing fewer poos. Is this normal for a stick insect this age? It also has a sticky tail and struggles to lay eggs.
Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) live approximately one year on average, but do slow down and can behave as you describe as they are nearing the end of life. So your stick insect is dying naturally from old age. Dying stick insects become thirsty and so it's important at this time to give the leaves an extra daily spray of water so that she can drink from the water droplets on the leaves.

My friend gifted me her cage full of Indian and Thailand stick insects because she has to leave the UK for a posting overseas. She assured me stick insects are really easy to care for, and replacing the bramble once a week would be a breeze. She's not the lying type and so I figure I must be doing something wrong. I find the stick insects run in all directions when I open up the cage. They run out faster than I can put them back into the cage. It's not what I need after coming home at night after a late shift at work!
You are having issues because you are disturbing the stick insects when it is dark. Stick insects are most active at night and so this is not a good time to feed them. I recommend you change your weekly feed to a daytime slot, perhaps on your day off? You will find that it is then really easy to replace the bramble leaves because most of the stick insects will be resting, and certainly not running around like they do at night.

I'm researching stick insect enclosure ideas and the ELC cage looks great. Must I keep the stick insects indoors in my house or could I put the cage outdoors in my greenhouse?
Stick insects thrive in the ELC cage because this is a purpose-designed stick insect cage. Stick insects do best at a daytime temperature of 18-21 degrees Celsius and a cooler nighttime temperature of 12-14 degrees Celsius. So please keep your ELC cage of stick insects in a comfortably warm room in your house. Do not put them in the greenhouse because this will be too hot during the day and too cold at night for them.

We've successfully hatched a couple of Thai eggs, they're probably about 3 weeks old now. I've realised that all the advice I've been reading has been about Indian stick insects. Therefore I don't know when I should transfer them to the ELC. They're currently in a jam jar (I don't have a HAP) which I open every day and put a wet piece of leaf in. Could you give me some advice about transferring them.
Thailand stick insects (Baculum thaii) can live in the ELC cage from birth, so you can skip the HAP step altogether for this species. So I recommend you transfer your two young nymphs to the ELC cage asap. Just tip out your young nymphs from the jamjar onto the leaves into the ELC cage. If the stick insects don't fall out straight away, you can try gently blowing on them because this encourages them to let go. Or, if they are being stubborn, you can gently blow on them and encourage them to walk onto the bristles of a fine paintbrush and then move the paintbrush to the ELC cage and let them walk off the bristles onto the leaves. Young Thailand stick insects like to rest on the ends of the bramble sprigs, and so when you mist the leaves the stick insects do get wet, but this doesn't matter for Thailand stick insects. More info on Thailand stick insects is in the book "Keeping Stick Insects" by Dorothy Floyd.

Can I get a version of the ELC cage with access on the left side, instead of the right side? I'd like to put at the end of a shelf in my room and if it's possible to have access on the left side that would be perfect! I already have sixteen Indian stick insects and they are in desperate need of a cage upgrade!
The front and the back of the ELC cage are identical. So, just turn the ELC cage around so that the mesh side with the green arrow sticker is on the left side. Then turn the lid so that the central label is at the front. Your ELC cage is now set up as you would like it, with access from both the top and the left side.

We are rearing some Achrioptera manga stick insects from eggs,and they have now started hatching out over last couple of weeks after 6 months since lay. We've had 6 hatch out so far, 1 "vanished" entirely, and 2 have just not eaten and just dried up. The other 3 are doing better and one appears to have moulted already. We've kept Indian stick insects for several years, but these seem more picky. They are in an acrylic tank, with airholes but no mesh sides, misted lightly twice a day, house is warm. We just learned they may prefer a breeze to stimulate feeding, so we tried this last night but had to leave the hatch open for it to reach them, it did seem to help with them all instantly starting to feed but not for more than a few minutes. Do we need to arrange a breeze for them?
There are lots of different species of stick insect that can be kept as pets and we recommend people keep the easier types, rather than be disappointed with attempting the more challenging species (such as the Achrioptera manga/fallax) which have a higher mortality rate. Most stick insects do best in a cage with two mesh sides that provides a natural through-draught of air, so your stick insects would benefit from having this arrangement. The fact the increased air movement (when the fan was switched on) stimulated them to eat, proves they need better air-flow in their enclosure.

Do stick insects need companionship?
Yes, stick insects like to be with other stick insects. And when you keep stick insects together in the same ELC cage, the different species tend to group together. An ELC cage can house the following species together: Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus), Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus) and Thailand stick insects (Baculum thaii). And it is for this social reason that Small-Life Supplies always supply stick insects in small groups instead of individually.

I'm getting some green bean stick insects. And want to do a planted terrarium, any advice on what plants to use?
It is difficult to grow plants in your stick insect cage because the stick insects eat the leaves faster than the plant can regrow them! The Green Bean stick insect, also called the Grenadan stick insect, Diapherodes gigantea, does best on a diet of eucalyptus leaves. Eucalyptus grows very quickly as a huge tree outside in the UK and so it is easier to regularly harvest from a tree rather than try to grow a potted eucalyptus plant in a stick insect cage.

Is a 25cm (10 inches) high enclosure tall enough for standard stick insects?
No, a stick insect cage should be at least 45cm high, which is 18 inches. Housing stick insects in squat containers can lead to stunted growth. The "standard" stick insect is the Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) and Indian stick insects grow to 11cm long. The ELC stick insect cage is 51cm high, which is 20 inches. The shorter ELS stick insect cage (on the Small-Life Supplies clearance page at the moment) is 46.5cm tall, 18 inches.

One of my Indian stick insect nymphs has been eating the tissue on the bottom of the enclosure. There is plenty of bramble and it can climb, so why would it eat something that’s not food?
Occasionally stick insects do this, fortunately it doesn't seem to do them any harm. With all the rain we have been getting in the UK combined with the lack of bright sunshine, the bramble (blackberry) leaves are thinner than usual and not as fibrous. So you could try adding some hazel leaves and some wild rose leaves. We have noticed our Indian stick insects are currently prioritising eating hazel leaves over bramble (blackberry) leaves.

What is the best enclosure for baby stick insects?
Baby Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) do best in the HAP, this is a clear unventilated container that is 13cm tall. But as the Indian stick insects grow, they require more airy surroundings and so should be transferred to the ELC stick insect cage a few weeks later. In contrast, baby Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus) and baby Thailand stick insects (Baculum thaii) do best in the airy ELC cage from birth.

I bought an ivy plant in a pot and now all my Indian stick insects are dead, why has this happened, I even washed the leaves? I'm gutted because the instruction leaflet said to do this.
Never give your stick insects potted plants to eat, unless you can be certain the soil does not contain any pesticides. In the UK, many potted plants sold in supermarkets and garden centres have pesticides in the soil. These poisons are taken up by the plant roots and transported inside the plant stems and leaves, so cannot be washed off the leaves! You have received terrible advice and I recommend you contact the seller to let them know that their bad advice has caused suffering to your stick insects and resulted in their deaths.

Can I feed my stick insects different leaves? My stick insects (Indian) have always eaten bramble leaves but I planted some hazel trees a few years ago and they need trimming back a bit.
Yes, Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) can eat various leaves including: bramble (blackberry), rose, Photinia (red robin), and hazel. Small-Life Supplies are stick insect specialists and have decades of experience with breeding stick insects. All our Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) start off exclusively eating bramble (blackberry) leaves. But at any time during their life, additional leaves (from the above list) can be included for them to eat. So yes, your Indian stick insects will enjoy eating your hazel leaves. Of course, as with all animals, some individual stick insects are fussier than others, so it's always best to add the hazel leaves to the bramble leaves, rather than switching over exclusively to hazel leaves.

To shake or not to shake? What is your view on this regarding incubating stick insect eggs?
An occasional gentle shake of stick insect eggs that take a very long time to develop is beneficial. So for the Malaysian stick insect eggs (Heteropteryx dilatata) and New Guinea stick insect eggs (Eurycantha calcarata), a gentle shake of the closed container containing the eggs and a sprinkling of damp soil, is recommended. This should only be done about once a month and appears to increase the rate of successful hatching of the eggs. This practice is only applicable to species of stick insect egg that incubate for six months or longer.

I am very interested in having a go at rearing silkmoths and I am on your waiting list. My first question is do you have an update on when the silkworms might be ready? My second question is can you supply the privet leaves? And my third question is will these silkworms eat box leaves? I know box is smaller than privet, but it kinda looks similar?
The giant Indian Eri silkmoths that Small-Life Supplies rear commercially are laying eggs now, and so the caterpillars (silkworms) should be ready mid-June 2024 onwards. The best food for them is fresh green privet leaves (Ligustrum vulgare), you may be able to find privet yourself if there are any overgrown privet hedges nearby. Or, you can purchase small and large bags of fresh cut privet from Small-Life Supplies. And yes, box leaves are smaller than privet leaves but box (Buxus sempervirens) is classified as a different family to privet and box is not a suitable foodplant for Indian Eri silkworms (Samia ricini). Across the UK box hedges are regularly decimated by caterpillars of the Box tree moth (Cydalima perspectalis).

Why can't I buy an ELC cage on Amazon prime?
ELC cages are not mass produced cheaply in China, but are manufactured in the UK and so are priced accordingly. Unfortunately the high commission fees charged to business sellers on Amazon (and ebay) makes it too expensive to sell via these platforms. So that is why ELC cages are only available direct from the manufacturer, Small-Life Supplies, and also via the exclusive British-made products platform www.numonday.com

My Indian stick insect nymphs are 8 weeks old and hatched within 4 days of each other. One has had 3 moults and is about to move into the adult enclosure. The other two have only had one moult, though they seem healthy. Why would they develop at such different rates when they live in the same environment?
Thanks for emailing a photo of your three Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) nymphs together. I can see that the largest one is green and growing well. The other two both have damaged antennae which is unusual for such young stick insects and indicates they are less healthy which is why they are growing at a slower rate. Also, one of the smaller ones has interesting mottled markings and usually such fancy looking stick insects are more delicate than their plainer counterparts. Fortunately the bodies of the smaller ones are not deformed and so they should still be OK as they grow older, although their antennae will always be shorter than normal.

I have 7 baby Indian stick insects, all varying in size as they were born over a 2 week period. I currently house them in HAP, how big do they need to be to be able to live in the ELC cage with the adults that I have?
Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) nymphs do best in less-ventilated surroundings when they are very young and so it is great that you are housing them correctly in the HAP (this clear enclosure is specially manufactured for this purpose). The baby Indian stick insects are thirsty and so it's best to put a wet bramble leaf in the HAP and replace this leaf every day or so. As the Indian stick insects grow, they do best in a more ventilated environment, and the ELC stick insect cage with two full ventilated sides is perfect for Indian stick insects. The best stage to transfer the Indian stick insects from the HAP to the ELC cage is when the Indian stick insects are 3.5cm long. So, you'll need to get a ruler and measure the total length of your stick insects in the HAP. The total length includes the front legs outstretched added to the body length, and when this measurement is 3.5cm, you can transfer them to the ELC cage to live with the Indian stick insect adults you already have. Looking at the photo you emailed to me, it looks like they are ready to be transferred now.

My Indian stick insect moulted and seems to have lost some of its antennae from it - they also sometimes get stuck together. Will it grow back in the next moult?
A stick insect has two antennae (sometimes called feelers) and occasionally they can get stuck together. When this happens just carefully spray a little bit of water onto the area where they are joined together and wait a few moments for them to become unstuck. Sometimes the stick insect can separate her wet antennae by herself, other times you may need to use a fine artist's paintbrush to assist. Antennae are very delicate so you need to be very gentle and patient with this procedure, adding more water drops and waiting again if necessary. A stick insect that has lost part of it's antenna is unable to regenerate the antenna, so unfortunately your stick insect will now always have parts of her antennae missing.

I'm doing an assignment and I'm stuck on this question: "Describe a caterpillar that is native to the UK which has a lifespan longer than the average". I know some caterpillars hibernate over one winter, but are there species that stay in the caterpillar stage for even longer?
Yes, four years is the average length of time the British Goat Moth (Cossus cossus) is a caterpillar! These caterpillars live inside trees (such as ash, elm, poplar and willow), boring tunnels into the wood. At 9cm long the caterpillar is fully grown. After pupation it emerges as an impressive 5cm grey moth.

I've been told that I can't mix Macleays Spectre stick insects in the same ELC cage as New Guinea stick insects. Why not?
Both these types of stick insects grow very large and chunky and so it's best to only house up to six of one type in the ELC cage. During the night, the New Guinea stick insects (Eurycantha calcarata) like to walk up and down the mesh sides of the ELC cage. If another stick insect is in the way, the New Guinea stick insect usually just treads on it. If the other stick insect has a thin body, for example it is a Thailand stick insect (Baculum thaii), it can be damaged by the weight of a heavy chunky New Guinea stick insect. But if it also has a big chunky body, for example it is an Australian Macleays Spectre stick insect (Extatosoma tiaratum), it can retaliate by striking out with the little spines on its legs. Either way, it's best to house a group of New Guinea stick insects together in their own ELC cage. You'll also need to provide the extra items they need, including: Water Dish, Resting Tubes and Sand Pit (for the adult females to bury their eggs).

On average, when do Indian stick insects show signs of old age? Mine is seven months old and seems to be slowing down and seems weaker than it was.
Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) usually start showing signs of old age after twelve months. The symptoms are: darkening of the body, loss of weight, loss of grip in the feet (most obvious with the front feet), reduced activity. When death is imminent (within a few days), the dying stick insect will be weak and resting on the ELC cage Liner. At this stage it will be excessively thirsty and so the kindest action is to gently place its head on a wet loose bramble leaf laying flat on the Liner, so the stick insect can drink water.

I saw your 38cm high TTQ cage on the Small-Life clearance page but can't find it on the stick insect cages page? I have a couple of the 51cm high ELC cages but can see that the TTQ cage could work for the smaller species?
Yes, the TTQ cage is a useful cage, but it's use is restricted to either the very small species or to be used as a stick insect nursery cage. In contrast, the ELC cage can be used for those purposes and also as a general stick insect cage. So a commercial decision was made to discontinue the TTQ cage and concentrate on manufacturing more ELC cages, to help keep the cost of this successful stick insect cage down. A tall cage measuring approximately 51cm or 20 inches, is really important for the successful rearing of most stick insects. And the two ventilated sides in the ELC cage are perfect for the air-flow requirements of many commonly kept species of stick insect.

My son wants stick insects for his birthday, is it possible to request a particular delivery date?
Yes, of course. Deliveries are made across the UK on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. So when you place your order, just ask for the specific delivery date you require.

The bramble around here is so very thin, I imagine this is a result of all the rain we are experiencing. The leaves are large enough to be safe to eat but they are so thin and floppy I can't see them being nutritious. Can you recommend anything else that is available now that my Indian stick insects would relish?
Yes, our bramble is like yours, and you are correct in being concerned about it's quality. It does not last as long as usual either, so needs replacing more frequently. We are supplementing the bramble given to our Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) with the Red Robin Photinia leaves. Fortunately these leaves are bright red and tasty, and are devoured by our Indian stick insects in preference to the floppy pale green bramble leaves.

My friend is worried about her stick insect (see photo attached). Will it be OK? The leg isn't moving much now.
The photo is of a young Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) which has a green body (typical of a stick insect that age), but unfortunately has a black area at the top of a middle leg, at the point at which the leg joins the body (thorax). This is the classic symptom of a fungal infection, and is very bad news. It has been caused by the surroundings being far too damp. I can see the stick insect is in a stuffy glass tank with insufficient ventilation and I suspect your friend has been spraying too much water in there which will have made things worse. So she needs to rehouse her stick insect in a cage with more air-flow. The ELC cage is ideal housing for stick insects because this cage has two mesh sides opposite each other which allows the optimum amount of ventilation. Unfortunately the stick insect will probably lose the affected leg, but relocating her to a more airy cage will stop the infection spreading to her other legs.

I've had my two Pink Winged stick insects for about a month now and love them! Sometimes I've noticed a strong grassy type smell when handling them that is not present in the cage and it's led me to wonder if this is some kind of deterrent/defensive measure and a panic response? I enjoy taking them out to have a wander outside the cage over my hands and arms but I don't wish to unnecessarily stress them.
Yes, some species of stick insect can exude a defensive odour when they feel threatened. The smell of this odour varies according to the species, and the odour from Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus) can smell grass-like. It dissipates within a few seconds and is harmless to people, it's purpose is to distract a potential predator in the wild and give the stick insects valuable extra seconds to escape. As you have only been looking after your stick insects for a month they are still getting to know you. So continue to handle them regularly and they will soon stop releasing this odour because they will feel relaxed walking on you. It also helps to talk to them in a calm voice (their ears are by their knees).

This made me lol and I thought it'd brighten your day too! Enjoy! It's from a piece of insect wallart that someone is selling! It says "Bees have a long straw-like tongue called a probiscus".
Yes, ha ha, thanks for sharing! Of course probiscus isn't a word, the correct word in this context should be proboscis. Another word that a lot of people misspell is "parthenogenetic".

When we took on our leaf insects, we were advised that leaf insects require 25-30 degrees but are unable to find much information on this and clarification! I was also wondering if you could advise the best way to heat the ELC cage?
There are different species of leaf insect, some are fine at a daytime room temperature of 18-21 degrees Celsius, whilst others prefer it a bit warmer in the day at 22-24 degrees Celsius. Either way, the temperature you have been quoted is far too high. When keeping leaf insects, it's best to position the ELC cage in a warm sunny room. If extra heat is needed then use a 500W oil-filled radiator, positioned about 1 metre away from a mesh side of the cage. This is safe and economical, it emits a gentle warmth so is effective at modestly increasing the temperature for the inhabitants of the ELC cage. Please do not use heat lamps or heat mats in the ELC cage because these can permanently distort the clear panels in the cage and also can dry out the surroundings too much, crisping the foliage and causing problems when the leaf insects try to undergo their skin-changes. And just like stick insects, many leaf insects can tolerate a lower temperature at night, of approximately 14 degrees Celsius.

Two of my Indian stick insects are 4 weeks old and haven’t had their first moult yet. They are still eating and gripping normally, but one of them looks covered in brown markings. Is this a sign of a health issue? I thought they were supposed to be one colour. It does not seem ill or distressed.
Thanks for emailing the photo of your first instar Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus). She does have interesting markings and so it will be nice to see her grow up. Unfortunately both her antennae are damaged, which indicates she is more delicate health-wise than her sisters. Regardless of the stick insect species, the individuals with the most fancy markings always seem to be more fragile and less healthy than their plainer counterparts, and so often have shorter lifespans. With Indian stick insects, the first skin-change (ecdysis) is usually after three weeks, but it is not unusual for this to be delayed by a week or two if it has been particularly gloomy and overcast outside.

We are so excited to be receiving our New Guinea stick insects from Small-Life Supplies this week, do you have any tips? We haven't looked after such impressive guys before!
Small-Life Supplies rears New Guinea stick insects (Eurycantha calcarata) and adult pairs are being dispatched this week and next week. These are huge chunky stick insects and so it is no surprise that they keep selling out! The adult New Guinea stick insects do like a lot of exercise and so wait a few weeks for them to settle in and then start taking them out of the ELC cage at a regular time every day or so for a walk across a table or a hard floor. Thick pile carpets are not suitable because the carpet fibres can get stuck in the stick insects' feet. And smooth shiny floors should be avoided too because they can be too slippery for the stick insects to grip onto. When you return the New Guinea stick insects to the ELC cage, check that the Water Dish is full of clean cold tap water and there is plenty of lush bramble in the Sprig Pot of water. Every week you need to sieve the sand in the Sand Pit and save the eggs to hatch out the next generation. And remember that both ends of the Resting Tubes should be clear from the sides of the ELC cage so that the New Guinea stick insects can easily climb in and out of these pink cardboard tubes.

I was wondering, how do stick insects communicate with each other? I know they are social to some degree but my two Pink Winged stick insects always seem to be sleeping on opposite sides of the cage and I worry that in the big ELC cage they might be missing each other. Would they benefit from some more friends? I was thinking about adding some Indian stick insects but I imagine this would not give my current friends the same social benefit as others from their own species.
Your two Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus) will be able to locate each other in the ELC cage, using their eyes and antennae. So it appears they are avoiding each other! A couple more Pink Winged stick insects would be a good idea, and hopefully you would see some grouping together. Sometimes there is a "loner" in the ELC cage, but the probability of you having two loners is very small, so more stick insects would be beneficial. There is plenty of room in the ELC cage for four Pink Winged stick insects and four Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus). Usually the stick insects group together with their own kind, but sometimes two stick insects from different species like to hang out together.

I'm keen to purchase several British Vapourer caterpillar kits for my class, to be delivered after the Easter holidays. But I see there is limited stock available, so I am concerned you may have sold out by next week? I really do prefer your kits with the natural leaves, I had some from you last year and the students were set the task of filming the caterpillars eating the bramble, which was a big success!
No need to worry, more of our British Vapourer eggs (Orgyia antiqua) have hatched and those caterpillars will be large enough to send out during the remainder of April, so you can order now and request delivery after 16th April 2024. It is great that you are encouraging your students to observe the behaviour of the caterpillars eating the leaves, there is a lot of entertainment and educational value in watching our caterpillars in class (far more than just the metamorphosis process).

How do stick insects breathe? And do caterpillars breathe in the same way?
Yes, both stick insects and caterpillars have small holes (called spiracles) down each side of their body. These spiracles open and close, allowing air to drift into and out of their bodies and into connecting tubes. These tubes branch out into thinner and thinner tubes, the smallest of which are called tracheoles. These penetrate the areas which need oxygen and this passes directly into the tissues of the insect. So there is no need for special molecules to transport oxygen and this is why insects' blood does not carry oxygen.

Please tell me the stick insect basics in less than 100 words.
House stick insects in a tall cage, 51cm high. Stick insects breathe air and so the cage needs two mesh sides for good ventilation. The ELC cage is ideal. Most stick insects eat bramble (blackberry) leaves so stand the cut stems in water to stay fresh. Mist the leaves daily (but don't get the stick insects wet!). Keep the surroundings clean by using a disposable ELC Liner on the cage floor. Keep the ELC cage indoors in a room that is approx 18 degrees Celsius in the day and 12 degrees Celsius at night.

My flat mate has moved out and left her stick insect behind, so I'll be looking after "Tim" from now on! He's a male New Guinea stick insect, fully grown I think (photo attached). I have ordered an ELC cage for him, but I'm worried he may be lonely? Should I get him a mate?
Looking at the photo you sent, I can confirm that Tim is an adult male New Guinea stick insect (Eurycantha calcarata). He is a glossy dark brown which means that he is a young male (old males look dark and dull). And yes, he definitely would benefit from having some company of his own kind. So I'd recommend getting an adult female New Guinea stick insect for him. This species drinks a lot more water than other types, so it's important to put a shallow Water Dish in the ELC cage. And when you get the female, you'll need the Sand Pit (full of sterilised sand), for her to bury her eggs in. Finally, New Guinea stick insects like to rest inside cardboard tubes, so a couple of our Resting Tubes should be placed on the ELC Liner, banded together with an elastic band.

My Indian stick insects are all around a week old and seem healthy. I found one doing a longer and thinner poo than expected - is this healthy? I attached a photo to show what I mean - I also found several droppings that look like this and some are even longer.
At this time of year (Spring) the quality of the bramble leaves is not at it best. This is because the older dark green leaves are dying off to make way for the new pale green shoots. But stick insects need to eat the older dark green leaves (because the tiny young green shoots can make them ill). So your stick insects are eating the older leaves but because these are not as nutritious as usual, the poo from the stick insects can be more stringy than usual, as you have observed. Fortunately the new growth leaves will soon be over 3cm long and safe to eat, so the appearance of the poo should return to its normal shape and size.

I bought a vintage book about insects from a charity shop and am enjoying the style in which it is written, especially the parts where the author recounts his personal observations. But I am puzzled because the author refers to "chrysalides"?
Many of the older books on insects were written by people who had years of experience studying insects, and had kept their own detailed notes on the behaviour and anatomy of the insects they had observed first hand. This is vastly different from today, where so many insect books just consist of information lifted from the internet, simply by using "cut and paste". Unfortunately this means that some of the information being regurgitated is inaccurate and no new information is being put out there. In answer to your chrysalides question, this is explained by the fact that language changes over the decades. So up until the 1950s or so, "chrysalides" was in common usage but has now been replaced by "chrysalises" (plural) and chrysalis (singular). The word "chrysalis" refers to a golden pupa, the word being derived from the Greek word "chrysos" meaning gold.

Do male New Guinea stick insects die before the female New Guinea stick insects?
No, male and female New Guinea stick insects (Eurycantha calcarata) have approximately the same lifespan. Most species of stick insect live for approximately one year, but New Guinea stick insects have longer lifespans, both genders usually living between 18 months and three years.

What do stick insects do in the summer when it’s light for much longer? Do they still become active at the same time or do they only become active for the few dark hours?
Stick insects are most active when it is dark. If their only source of illumination is a window letting in natural light, they will start to become active at dusk, when it is getting dark outside. It is darkness that stimulates their activity. In the Summer this activity continues after dawn, so the stick insects are still active for approximately ten hours. Of course, if it is dark outside but the stick insects are in a room with the light switched on, they will delay being active until the light is switched off. That is why it is so important to switch room lights off at night so that the stick insects are in the dark during the night. Stick insects kept in continuous light become very stressed and die prematurely.

In the Quick Quiz section of this week's "new scientist" magazine, it asks "What is the world's largest living snail species?". I thought the answer would be a Giant African Land Snail, but the answer given is an Australian trumpet snail?
Snails are gastropods and there are both land snails and sea snails. The largest sea snail is the Australian trumpet snail (Syrinx aruanus), which can have a shell length of 70cm! The largest land snail is the Giant African Land Snail (Achatina achatina) whose shell length can be 20cm. This is bigger than the Giant East African Land Snail (Achatina fulica) commonly kept as pets and achieving a typical shell length of 10cm.

What's the difference between a chrysalis and a cocoon?
A chrysalis is a pupa which is gold coloured, and can be either entirely gold or has flecks of gold. The word chrysalis is derived from the Greek word "chrysos" which means gold. Because the chrysalis is so bright (being gold), it is usually suspended from a twig and so is hanging out is the open. In the UK, examples of butterflies that emerge from chrysalises are the Vanessids, which include the Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) and Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta). In the USA, the Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) emerges form a chrysalis (this is mainly green but has gold spots). Of course the vast majority of pupae across the world are not gold and so should not be called chrysalises, instead the correct term is pupae. A pupa is usually dark brown. Sometimes a pupa is hidden underground in a loose sac, made from bits of leaf and soil stuck together, this gives the pupa extra protection. In other species, most obviously with silkmoths, a silken sac is spun around the caterpillar as it pupates, again the purpose is to give the pupa extra protection. This silken sac is called a cocoon. It is out in the open and not underground, and can incorporate a leaf.

My Indian stick insect egg hatched a few days ago and the baby seems to be doing well. How can I tell if she is eating?
Look for the tiny droppings/poo, the technical word is "frass" on the Liner of the HAP. Young Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) eat from the edges of the bramble/blackberry leaf, but have small appetites, so there will only be very small chunks missing from the edges of the leaf. Remember to lightly mist the bramble leaf once a day with cold tap water because baby Indian stick insects (called "first instar nymphs" are thirsty and like to drink from the water droplets on the bramble leaf.

The British Vapourer caterpillars we purchased from you have been wonderful and it is so calming to watch them eat the bramble leaf. Today, one of them is bright green and a different shape, I assume this is the pupa? I attach a photo. Is there anything I need to do?
Yes, your photo is of a newly formed pupa which is why it is bright green. It will be very soft at the moment, so don't touch it yet because it will be very delicate. Tomorrow, it will have hardened and will be dark brown, so you will be able to gently lift it out and place it inside an upturned bottle top. This action will stop the pupal case from sliding around when the adult moth emerges, this will be in a couple of weeks time. Usually the British Vapourer pupa (Orgyia antiqua) is protected by a cocoon, but sometimes the caterpillar fails to make a proper cocoon. Because the pupa is now confined in the bottle top, you will also need to insert some twigs angled upwards in the HAP so that when the moth emerges he can climb up the twig and unfurl his wings. If the moth is female, she will climb a short distance up the twig and pump out pheromones to attract a male.

We're going away for six nights over Easter, would it be better to take our stick insects with us or leave them at home?
It's quite easy to take your stick insects with you in the car, the ELC cage fits on the back seat with a seatbelt around. The stick insects are fine travelling by car. However, be very careful where you are staying because many hotels and b+b's liberally spray the rooms with air-fresheners. Unfortunately the chemicals from both aerosol and plug-in air-fresheners may give you a headache but worse still, they will poison your stick insects and kill them. That is why it is so important to contact the hotel/b+b well in advance and request that all air-fresheners are removed and all the windows are opened to remove these chemicals. It's easiest to cite allergy issues as the reason you need this to be done. Or, you could leave your stick insects at home, they will be fine up to seven days if you put in extra food and place the ELC cage in the coolest part of your home (stick insects eat less if they are in a cooler place).

I've been told the ELC cage is the best enclosure for stick insects and I'd like to purchase six for our college. Do you accept Purchase Orders and what is the lead time?
Yes, the ELC cage is ideal for stick insects, it is a tall (51cm) high cage with two mesh sides for optimum ventilation. The large viewing panels are crystal clear rigid plastic and so are safe for educational and home use. Please email your Purchase Order to Small-Life Supplies and we will email you a pro-forma invoice with the VAT breakdown. ELC cages are in stock and delivery is fast, so you'd receive your six ELC cages within a few days of us receiving payment.

I would like to buy stick insects from Small-Life Supplies and have read that a colour care leaflet is included and there is a book for sale too, but do you also offer an after-care service, and if so, what does this cost? Our vets are going downhill and so I'd like to be reassured that there is someone qualified I can ask should any of my stick insects seem unwell and need urgent treatment.
The stick insects that Small-Life Supplies send out to customers pass our list of visual health checks and so you can be confident of receiving nice healthy stick insects. This means that the stick insects will have all six legs, all six feet, two antennae, and bodies that are not deformed, damaged or diseased. Live arrival is guaranteed. The free care leaflet included explains the basics of how to look after the stick insects properly and the setting up leaflet included with the ELC cage explains how to set up your stick insect home correctly. The stick insects we supply are easy to keep and so you should have no issues keeping them successfully. However, there are occasions when something happens, for example, a stick insect falls awkwardly and bangs its head, or a stick insect is dying from old age and needs palliative care. Regardless of your concern, you can phone Small-Life Supplies directly and ask for advice, this is given freely. It is good that you want to look after your stick insects properly, and remember you can also use the search function on this page (hold down the Ctrl key and hit the F key) to search for a specific topic, because your query may have already been answered on here.

What is the approximate time frame for Indian stick insect eggs hatching? I have some which were laid between mid-November and February.
Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) eggs usually hatch after approximately four months. We store eggs of different species of stick insects in the breeding facility at Small-Life Supplies, which is 18 degrees Celsius during the day and 14 degrees Celsius at night. Looking at the Indian stick insect eggs that have hatched this morning, 12th March 2024, I can see some were laid on 21st October 2023 (but most of these have already hatched). And we are now seeing the first hatchlings from eggs laid on 16th November 2023. So your Indian stick insect eggs that were laid in mid-November 2023 should start to hatch within the next couple of weeks.

I have had a passion for orchids for many years and have built up quite a collection! I'm now tempted to start a collection of stick insects. I am meticulous at labelling everything and want to get it right from the start. So, please can you tell me the correct scientific format to use - should the second part of the scientific name start with a lower or upper case letter, and should it be italicised?
It's great that you are wanting to explore the hobby of keeping stick insects and that you pay attention to detail. The correct scientific format is for the species name to be in italics and in brackets after the common name. The species name is in two words, the first word starts with a capital letter, and the second word starts with a lower case letter. For example, Eurycantha calcarata. As well as having a unique species name, stick insects have a "common" name, usually this reflects their country of origin (when living in the wild). So, in the example above, the Eurycantha calcarata is a large chunky stick insect, originally living wild in New Guinea. So, if you were keeping these stick insects in captivity, your label would read New Guinea stick insect, (Eurycantha calcarata). Avoid using general descriptive phrases such as "spiny" and "prickly", because for stick insects, the scientific protocol is to use the name of the country.

I asked google "what is the cheapest pet in the UK" and the answer given was hamsters at £250 per year! That price includes the cage and food etc, but clearly the proper stick insects set up with ELC cage bundle etc is much less than that! So I think the answer should be stick insects!
Yes, stick insects are affordable pets and of course have a big advantage of eating fresh bramble leaves which you can gather for free from outside. And you are correct, the total price, including the correct housing, feeding and maintenance costs, is less for stick insects than it is for hamsters. But there are some pet insects for sale that are even cheaper than stick insects, for example caterpillars. Although caterpillars do not live as long as stick insects, they can still be very rewarding pets. Many people in the UK enjoy looking after caterpillars and watching them grow into fancy moths. Small-Life Supplies have two types of caterpillar in stock at the moment.

Our team won the school biology quiz and the prize is to spend £50 on something we want for the biology lab. We had a discussion and a vote and we really want the ELC cage! Our teacher said if we can get it for £50 she'll pay the postage (we're in South London). We're really hoping that you can help us, perhaps you have some reduced ones in stock? At the moment our Indian stick insects are living in a tank, but it's not great and we want to upgrade their home!
Yes, we can help. It's great that you want to improve the living conditions for your stick insects at school. At the moment we have some lightly used ELC cages in stock, these have only been used for a few months in our breeding facility and have been thoroughly cleaned. They are in very good condition and dispatched ready assembled in very strong cardboard boxes so they arrive safe and undamaged. There is a 25% price reduction on our lightly used ELC cages, so the price is £49.86, so within your budget. Delivery by courier to South London is £9.96, and it's good to hear that your teacher is willing to chip in this amount to help. Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) do best in a tall 51cm high cage with two fully ventilated sides and the ELC cage is ideal housing for them.

You know us humans have different colours of eyes; blue, green, brown and so on, it got me thinking about can the same be said about stick insects? I know stick insects have compound eyes and so they are different to human eyes, but can the colour of compound eyes vary?
Yes, the colour of stick insects varies according to the species of stick insect. For example, Thailand stick insects (Baculum thaii) have yellow eyes and Malaysian stick insects (Heteropteryx dilatata) have pale brown eyes. The eyes of Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus) are light grey during the day, becoming black when it gets dark.

I handled my Indian stick insect earlier and she started trying to eat (?) my thumb. I put her back in the enclosure and she started eating bramble. Was it dangerous for her to try eating my skin? I had eaten fruit about an hour before this.
Stick insects can smell with the sensory hairs on their antennae and also the sensory pads on their feet. So it is likely that your Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) could detect the slight lingering odour from the fruit you handled, and then mistakenly assumed it was still there! Fruit contains sugars and in an extreme emergency if you have absolutely no bramble leaves available, you can give your stick insects slices of orange and apple to eat. However this is an emergency measure and should only ever be used for one day. So no, her behaviour on your thumb wasn't dangerous, she was just hungry, as proved by the fact she started eating bramble when returned to the cage.

What is the correct name for a stick insect house - cage, enclosure, vivarium or tank? I know an enclosure with glass walls isn't ideal because stick insects need plenty of space to cling onto and prefer a fine mesh underfoot, so why do I see these on selling sites?
Stick insect cage is a good description because cage implies a ventilated home. The ELC cage is a tall ventilated cage especially designed for housing stick insects successfully. Vivaria and tanks usually have four solid glass or plastic sides, and as you have observed, these prevent air-flow and also do not provide any suitable climbing surface for the stick insects to hook their claws around to get a foothold. Vivaria and tanks are often mass produced cheaply abroad, but the manufacturers advertise them as housing for reptiles (and so are not claiming to be suitable for stick insects). The term "enclosure" is vague but often used.

I used to keep Indian stick insects about ten years ago and fed them on ivy as we had a greater and healthier supply of it at the time and they did OK. Now I'm thinking of trying Pink Winged stick insects. Obviously I'm going to give them bramble but can they eat ivy like Indian stick insects at a pinch? Also, what sort of material are the Hatch Mats made from/do the Pink Wings need for laying? Is there something I could DIY for them to lay on as funds are limited, and where do I tape it?
Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus) are more fussy eaters than Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus). So avoid ivy and feed your Pink Winged stick insects with bramble (blackberry) leaves, and, if you have access to a large eucalyptus tree, fresh cut eucalyptus leaves as well. Eucalyptus in their diet encourages the bodies of Pink Winged stick insect nymphs to become green rather than remaining fawn. Adult Pink Winged stick insects glue their eggs onto rough surfaces, so the textured non-woven fibrous grey Hatch Mats are ideal. Tape these on the outside of the mesh panels on the ELC cage because the Pink Winged stick insects have learnt to poke their tails through the holes in the mesh and glue their eggs outside the cage! A DIY version would be to tape strips of paper around the edge of the outside mesh panel, the colour is important, and pale blue is the most popular for the stick insects. It's really important to leave the Pink Winged stick insect eggs where they have been glued because they need to remain firmly anchored so that they can hatch properly.

My 5 month old Indian stick insect is about to pass away - it has no visible signs of disease and my other stick insect is completely fine. She has somehow just laid an egg that had been waiting to come out for several days - is this likely to be viable? The stick insect isn’t old and I don’t know why she is like this at her age.
Unfortunately this stick insect is dying and her egg is not likely to hatch. As with all living things, some individual stick insects are naturally healthier than others, with the unhealthy ones dying young. The new Small-Life Supplies YouTube video # 011 is a short video showing what healthy adult Indian stick insects should look like, you can watch it now: "YES! Healthy stick insects look like this".

I like the look of the Pink Winged stick insects and might get some of them as well as the Indian ones. However I remember the younger me really liking the New Guinean stick insects (Eurycantha calcarata) and was wondering how these three species would do being kept together in an ELC cage? Or is it a no go because of the drowning risk from the New Guineas' water dish?
Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) and Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus) have similar body shapes (long and thin), ventilation and food requirements, and can be housed together successfully in the ELC cage. In contrast, the New Guinea stick insects (Eurycantha calcarata), are big and chunky and their sheer bulk means they can accidentally harm a thinner type of stick insect if they tread on it. So New Guinea stick insects should always be housed in a separate ELC cage to other species of stick insect. And yes, there is also the drowning risk, because New Guinea stick insects drink a lot and so need an open dish of water, unlike most other species of stick insect which obtain enough moisture from eating the leaves and drinking the water droplets from the leaves following their daily misting from a water sprayer.

Where can I buy stick insect enclosures that are pre-built? I live in Cardiff and don't want the faff of trying to assemble something myself!
Pre-built stick insect cages are available from Small-Life Supplies. Delivery is nationwide in the UK and these ELC cages are packaged well in bespoke strong cardboard boxes so that they arrive undamaged.

Would a male stick insect live as long as a female stick insect? I've recently purchased a pair of adult New Guinea stick insects and they seem close so I really hope they have a long and happy life together!
The good news is that the lifespan of male and female New Guinea stick insects (Eurycantha calcarata) is the same. These are long-lived stick insects, a typical lifespan is 18 months, but if you have good healthy stock, and look after them well, they can live to be three years old! As the adults age, their bodies lose their glossy shine and appear duller. It is really important to provide New Guinea stick insects with a Water Dish in their ELC cage because they drink a lot of water. And a couple of cardboard Resting Tubes provide a comfortable space for them to hide in together. Adult New Guinea stick insects mate regularly throughout their adult life and if they have a strong emotional bond it is common to see them die within days of each other. In such cases the surviving partner remains with the dead body and refuses to eat, so dies within days.

I was on the Octopus energy website and saw this statement: "An octopus can ooze through an opening no bigger than its own eyeball." Can the same be said about stick insects?
No. In general, stick insects don't try to squeeze through holes to escape. This means stick insects can be housed in cages with relatively large sized holes in the mesh. There is a species of stick insect, the New Guinea stick insect (Eurycantha calcarata) that does try to squeeze itself into tight places, but this behaviour is driven by a desire to hide, not escape. So when keeping New Guinea stick insects it is essential to use cotton wool to plug any gaps around the bramble stems and the hole in the Sprig Pot, because failure to do so will result in New Guinea stick insects sliding into the water in the Sprig Pot and drowning.

Can Indian stick insect eggs survive being wet? I had a spillage and they were underwater for a minute before I managed to dry them off.
The hard outside of a stick insect egg is called the chorion. This is full of tiny holes called micropyles which enable transfer of air and moisture from the outside into the developing egg embryo. The Indian stick insect egg (Carausius morosus) is designed to withstand being wet for short spells and so as your eggs were only wet for a minute they will be OK. However, if the eggs had been submerged for a week or more in water, the cumulative risk of the eggs becoming waterlogged and perishing would be increasing by the day. Of course I am assuming that the spillage was of cold water? Because if the water was boiling, the heat would have instantly denatured the structure of the embryo and so no further development would occur. This is why pouring boiling water over unwanted stick insect eggs is so effective and the recommended method to stop people from becoming overrun with stick insects.

I have two pairs of New Guinea stick insect adults. Both females have fat bellies and bury eggs in the sand pot, but I have never seen them either of them in the act with a male. Do they do this at night?
Yes, adult New Guinea stick insects (Eurycantha calcarata) usually mate at night. Mating in this species is quick, typically taking minutes. Some other species of stick insect, for example the Thailand stick insects (Baculum thaii) mate for hours at a time, and often do this during the day. An extreme example of mating in stick insects is the Vietnamese stick insect (Nuichua rabaeyae) which can mate continuously for two months!

I heard that Small-Life Supplies sometimes sell cut-price ELC stick insect cages, is this true and if so, how much? I live in Bristol and need a decent cage for my expanding collection of Indian stick insects!
Yes, Small-Life Supplies breed stick insects in lots of ELC cages and keep replacing these ELC cages with new ones. So the used ELC cages are offered for sale at a discount rate, at 25% price reduction off the list price. The used cages are thoroughly cleaned and dispatched assembled in the same bespoke packaging as is used to send the new ELC cages, so you can rest assured that your ELC cage will be delivered to you safely. The used ELC cages usually sell out really quickly, so it's best to phone Small-Life Supplies on 01733 913480 to check availability. The ELC cage is an excellent cage to house Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) and can accommodate up to twenty adult Indian stick insects.

The slow-growing Indian stick insect that I asked about previously has had its final moult. It has been behaving differently from the others for a long time in that I rarely see it walking around, seems less strong (falls off my hand) and will sometimes let its abdomen flop on the leaves/floor etc instead of holding itself up. It can grip and hang, and must be eating. Could this be a personality thing, as it isn’t unwell but seems to behave differently to the others? Or is it likely weaker/less healthy? I attach a photo.
Glad to hear she has completed her final skin-change (ecdysis). I think she is just weaker/less healthy than the others and her behaviour is reflecting this. Personality differences exist within stick insect populations, the most active individuals are usually most noticeable as are the caring ones that reach out to catch individuals that fall. But I think your Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) is behaving as she is because she feels a bit weak and has no alternative but to live life at a slower pace.

Quick question about caring for Australian stick insects... I've just ordered some eucalyptus branches from you but forgot to ask if I should mist these leaves or not?
You stand the cut branches of eucalyptus in a bucket of water outside so the leaves stay fresh for weeks. Snip shorter stems of eucalyptus off as required and stand these cut stems in a Sprig Pot of water. Australian Macleays Spectre stick insects (Extatosoma tiaratum) do best if the eucalyptus leaves are only misted occasionally, so only one light misting once a week is sufficient. This is completely different husbandry to most other stick insects which eat bramble leaves that benefit from a light misting of these leaves every afternoon/late evening.

Listening to Bill Bryson on radio 4 reading extracts from his book on the human body, I was struck by the number of myths about the subject that were being perpetuated and these can be traced back to someone mis-understanding a scientific paper. It occurred to me that exactly the same thing is still happening, particularly in the facebook group communities. For example, I keep seeing the incorrect advice about putting stick insect eggs in the home freezer to stop their development! As a trained scientist I know all about how insect eggs are adapted to withstand cold.
The advice offered on any Facebook group needs to be taken with a pinch of salt because any member can post whatever they like (the Facebook rules can stop profanity, porn and selling of living creatures, but not lies). And you are correct, it is a very bad idea to put unwanted stick insect eggs into a home freezer because the cold just arrests their development, so when the stick insect eggs are taken out of the freezer they warm up again and development recommences. In contrast, extreme heat is 100% effective at stopping development and instant too, so unwanted eggs can be destroyed by tipping them into a dish and pouring hot water on top, or throwing them into a fire.

I have a side hustle selling animal portraits and I've got a table booked at the next village fair. I thought I'd also take along my spare stick insects too and hopefully sell some on the day! My plan is to display them in the ELC cage and then people can choose which ones they want to purchase. I'm sure people will have lots of questions and so I wondered if you had any spare information leaflets about stick insects that I could give out? Or, perhaps even new copies of the reference book "Keeping Stick Insects" that I could sell, do you offer these books for re-sale at all? Any other advice would be much appreciated!
That sounds like a great opportunity to distribute your surplus stock to new homes and encourage people to look after their new pets properly, whilst making some money at the same time! Customers will need a rigid container to transport their stick insects back home and so I recommend you take along some large cake boxes, these are supplied flat packed and designed for quick assembly without the need for tape. So after someone has picked out the stick insects they want to buy, just take them out of the ELC cage and put them in the cake box with some bramble leaves, so the customer can take them home safely. And yes, the "Keeping Stick Insects" book by Dorothy Floyd is available at a discount price for re-sale, the minimum order for side hustlers like you is four copies. Please phone Small-Life Supplies on 01733 913480 to proceed. If you buy the books we can also send you up to thirty colour A5 double sided stick insect leaflets to give away with every stick insect sale you make. Good luck!

My friend recommends Small-Life Supplies for stick insect supplies, she has an ELC cage and said it's really quick and easy to flip it upside down to shake out any poo that's snuck underneath the Liner. She has Indian stick insects and insists they don't fall off the sides when she's shaking the cage. Can you explain how they do this? And do Pink Winged stick insects act the same way?
Stick insects have claws and suction pads on their feet. As they grow, they rely more on their claws for grip, which is why it is so important to house them in a cage that has mesh sides with suitably sized holes that they can hook their claws around. The ELC cage is purpose designed for housing stick insects which is why the stick insects can grip so well around the holes on the white mesh sides. However, stick insects do have a defensive behaviour of dropping to the ground like a straight stick if they are frightened. So when the ELC cage is inverted, always check to see if any stick insects panic and deliberately let go of the side. In general, Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) usually hang on, but some Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus) can be more nervy! Pick up any stick insects that do fall (they will not be hurt) and place them on the fresh Liner in the ELC cage.

Is it normal for an Indian stick insect to not have started laying eggs yet, three weeks after the final moult?
An adult Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) usually starts to lay eggs a couple of weeks after her final skin-change (ecdysis). It is really obvious she is ready to lay eggs because her entire abdomen swells and remains looking plump for the rest of her life. Occasionally egg laying can be delayed by a week or more, this is usually due to poor quality food or a cool room temperature. Indian stick insects do best in a room that is 18-21 degrees Celsius during the day, and above 12 degrees Celsius at night.

In Cornwall we are blessed with stick insects in the garden! I attach a photo, can you ID this for me please?
In the early 1900s stick insects came over from New Zealand on cargo ships and became naturalised in Cornwall, UK. Three species are still doing well, over a century later, eating bramble (blackberry) leaves, rose leaves and sometimes conifer needles. Your stick insect is the smooth bodied Acanthoxyla inermis. A similar, but more spiky species, Acanthoxyla prasina is on the cover of the "Keeping Stick Insects" book by Dorothy Floyd. Those two species are the ones I am most often contacted about, but there is another species, Clitarchus hookeri which also has established populations in Cornwall. Despite the Climate Crisis, there is no evidence that any of these three species of stick insect are migrating further north in the UK.

Do stick insects need a daily fix of vitamin D like we do? My room is pretty dark, the blinds are open in the day but it's still quite dark. I have four Indian stick insects in an ELC cage and they look well as far as I can tell, I have had them for a few weeks now.
The natural habitat of most stick insects is rainforests, and these are naturally quite dark places. So no, Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) don't need exposure to natural light and sunshine. Stick insects do however require a light and dark cycle, so they need to be kept in light surroundings during the day and dark surroundings at night. It doesn't matter that that your room is a bit dim during the day. The most important factor is that you have the lights off at night so the stick insects are in the dark during the night, when they are most active.

Out of interest can stick insects eat olive leaves? We have a few olive trees in our garden so just thought I would check whether or not they are suitable!
Stick insects need to eat the correct food, so for most types that is bramble (blackberry), hazel, rose, eucalyptus and Photinia leaves. Olive leaves are not recommended as a primary food source. Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) are the most versatile eaters and can test various other leaves, so may nibble an olive leaf but won't get the nutritional benefit that they need.

I have a massive insect enclosure full of Thailand stick insects. Two months ago a friend gave me her Indian stick insect because she is moving away and can't take her with her. I put this Indian stick insect in with my Thailand stick insects, thinking she'd be OK. But the weirdest thing has happened! Her antennae have been trimmed, I don't know by her or by the Thailand stick insects, but she now has short antennae! It's as if the Thailand stick insects have said "you can live with us, but you have to look like us!".
I've seen this happen too and agree that the logical explanation is that the Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) is having her antennae shortened so that she looks more like the Thailand stick insects (Baculum thaii), which have naturally short antennae. Of course it doesn't happen every time an Indian stick insect is introduced to a cage full of Thailand stick insects, but when it does happen, it is striking that both antennae are trimmed to the same length.

How difficult is it to hatch out Indian stick insect eggs? Should the eggs be sprayed with water or not?
It is very easy to hatch out Indian stick insect eggs (Carausius morosus) if they are kept in an unventilated container (such as the HAP) and stored in a room on a shelf or table, away from direct sunshine. Do not spray the eggs with water. Hatching usually occurs four months after the eggs have been laid. The baby stick insects (called first instar nymphs) should be kept in the HAP and given a wet bramble leaf to eat.

How often should Indian stick insects moult? Mine hasn’t moulted in four weeks? It is also smaller than my other one was at the same age.
Usually Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) shed their skins (moult) six times in five months. If the surroundings are very hot (for example like the very hot summer we experienced in the UK a couple of years ago) they can grow even quicker, so the time interval between skin-changes is reduced. However, occasionally one stick insect grows very slowly, and this is what you are observing. Her development is determined by genetics and not environmental conditions. This unusual behaviour is most commonly seen in Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus), and Australian Macleays Spectre stick insects (Extatosoma tiaratum). When this happens, similar aged stick insects can all be adults apart from one which is still a large nymph! Often the affected stick insect remains a nymph and dies before maturing, but not always. It will be interesting to see what happens to yours. There is nothing you can do to help this stick insect.

My children put loads of foliage into their enclosures as they were trying to make a nice, natural environment for the stick insects. They have of course put brambles in as food, but they have additionally added quite a few other leaves, sticks/twigs and even pine needles. I am wondering if this will be confusing for the stick insects, will they struggle to find their food source or are they quite good at locating the type of leaves they eat? Would it be better to have the tank quite bare and just put only the brambles in? We are misting them with water once a day in the evenings, and have put them in some damp oasis to keep them fresh.
It is much safer to just put foliage in the ELC cage that is safe for the stick insects to eat. So ideally just put two tall sprigs of bramble (blackberry), each approximately 40cm long, in there. You can use wet oasis to keep the cut stems fresh, or standing the stems in water makes the leaves last even longer. Using Sprig Pots of cold tap water is ideal because you can push the cut bramble stems through the central hole in the Sprig Pot, so there is no risk of the stick insects dropping in and drowning. The floor of the ELC cage needs a disposable paper ELC Liner, this makes egg collecting easy and keeps your stick insects in clean hygienic surroundings. It's best to avoid putting twigs and sticks on the Liner because these may contain tiny creatures and fungal spores which will be of no benefit to your pet stick insects.

Sorry if this has been asked before, but is any one type of stick insect poo better than another as a fertiliser for potted plants?
We have various potted plants at Small-Life Supplies, including assorted bulbs and spider plants. The poo (frass) from the Liners in the ELC cages housing Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus) seems to work the best, it is easy to prepare and is effective. We tip the frass into jugs, add cold tap water and stir well. After a few days, the mixture is stirred again and then poured over our potted plants.

I've got some Christmas spending money (yay!) and will be getting an ELC cage bundle and some Pink Winged stick insects from Small-Life Supplies. I saw someone else selling "pink wing" stick insects but they are different to yours, they are like the Black Beautys but have small pink wings instead of small red wings. I know you're the expert and so please tell me what these ones should be called, so I can share the information with the seller.
Yes, there is only one official Pink Winged stick insect and that is the Madagascan species that Small-Life Supplies breed and sell, the 15cm long Sipyloidea sipylus. These are very pretty stick insects with large pink wings. They are easy to look after and eat bramble (blackberry) leaves. Pink Winged stick insects do best in a tall cage with two mesh sides and so it's great that you are getting the proper ELC cage bundle to house yours. The classic Peruvian Black Beauty stick insect (Peruphasma schultei) is a much smaller stick insect with a black body and tiny red wings. This species eats privet leaves and does not eat bramble (blackberry) leaves. Recently, some people have managed to breed a variation of this species with pale pink wings instead of the red wings. But it is incorrect to list them as "pink wing" stick insects, instead they should be listed as "Peruvian Black Beauty stick insect (Peruphasma schultei), pink wing morph". It is good that you wish to advise the seller about their mistake, because it is in nobody's interest to be mis-naming stick insects and fatal for the stick insects if people are buying them and then giving them the wrong food to eat.

The bramble I purchased from you before Christmas lasted very long in the fridge, which was great. My question is can you guarantee supplying fresh bramble throughout the coming months?
Fortunately, over many years we have planted loads of bramble bushes and always have access to lots of established bramble (blackberry) bushes. There has been so much rain in recent months which means that the bramble leaves are still lush and green, despite it being January and mid-winter! We need good quality bramble to feed to the thousands of stick insects that we breed at Small-Life Supplies, but always have plenty spare, so at the moment we don't see any issues in continuing to send out wallets of fresh cut bramble nationwide across the UK to customers such as yourself.

I've been looking at upgrading my net enclosure to give my Indian stick insects a better home. The ELC stick insect cage looks ideal but I am worried how my Indian stick insects will cope with going from a very airy enclosure to a less airy one? Will they be OK or is there is something I can do to ease their transition?
Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) do best in a cage with two fully ventilated sides (which the ELC cage has) rather than in a cage with all-round ventilation (found in many all-netting enclosures). And no, you don't need to do anything to help them adjust, these stick insects will do much better in the ELC cage and it is great that you have researched their needs and will be looking after them properly. The ELC stick insect cage has been manufactured in the UK for the last twelve years and has been purpose designed to house stick insects.

Can all stick insects with wings fly?
No. Some species of stick insect have large wings and can fly well. These include: Australian Macleays Spectre stick insects (Extatosoma tiaratum), Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus) and Australian Titan stick insects (Acrophylla wuelfingi). Some other species of stick insect have tiny brightly coloured wings that are too small to sustain the stick insect in flight and are instead are designed to be briefly flashed. Their function is to startle predators (with this sudden flash of colour), allowing the stick insect time to escape. Stick insect species which have this design of wing include: Javanese stick insects (Orxines macklottii), Peruvian Black Beauty stick insects (Peruphasma schultei) and Thailand Straight / Bud Wing stick insects (Phaenopharos herwaardeni).

Sorry I am just a worried first timer! I received some Stick Insects for Christmas (best present ever) but I'm not sure how much water they need to drink? They are four Indian stick insects in the ELC cage, also they have red armpits which I have been told means they are adults?
Yes, adult Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) have a total length of approximately 11cm and have red tops to their front legs (where they attach to the thorax, just behind the head). Indian stick insects eat green bramble (blackberry) leaves and the 40cm long cut stems should be stood in a Sprig Pot of cold tap water to help the leaves stay fresh for a week. Indian stick insects like to drink water in the late afternoon or early evening and so it's recommended to lightly mist the tops of the bramble leaves lightly with cold tap water at this time. Try not to get the stick insects wet, so aim the nozzle of the mister at the leaves. A light misting of the leaves is ideal, it's important not to drench the leaves, so just a few short squirts should be fine.

Thank you for your advice on straightening my Indian stick insect’s abdomen. Unfortunately, I have not been able to do this as it squirms away every time I try anything. Sometimes the sharp bend is there and other times it’s more like a curve. It’s still pooing and acting normal (so must be eating) so I’m guessing it’s healthy. My question is: will this bend be a problem when it moults next? Or could moulting straighten out the abdomen?
It's encouraging that you say the abdomen is sometimes like a curve because when it looks like this it means that the tube inside the abdomen is inflated. But because the area around the crease has been weakened, if there is too much weight being applied, the abdomen can flip over and you will see the sharp crease again. This is most likely to happen when the stick insect is resting vertically with its head down, so the weight of the abdomen above the crease is putting a strain on this weakened area. I have seen this many times and the good news is that it does improve as the stick insect grows, although it is likely to have a visible pinch in that part of the abdomen.

How many times does a stick insect moult? And what is the link between instars and moults? I am trying to make sense of a table with instars and sizes, the figures are there but I don't get it!
Most species of stick insects moult six times. Moulting is when a stick insect sheds it's old skin and dramatically increases in length. The technical term for a stick insect moulting is "ecdysis". When a stick insect is born, it emerges from its egg and is technically called a "first instar nymph". A few weeks later, the stick insect moults for the first time and as soon as this moult is completed, the stick insect is called a "second instar nymph". After the stick insect has moulted for the sixth time, it is fully grown and so no longer can be called a nymph. So, instead of being incorrectly called a "seventh instar nymph", it is called an adult (or "imago"). Using instars is a handy tool to refer to the size of the stick insect, so for example, if someone is talking about a "sixth instar stick insect nymph", you know that this stick insect only has one more skin-change to go before becoming a fully grown adult. The moulting process is how stick insects grow, so once a stick insect is an adult it never moults again.

I’m more or less a beginner, I’ve got like 30+ Indians in ELC cages. I've seen some Trachyaretaon sp eggs for sale, these stick insects look so incredibly beautiful; I would absolutely adore to have some in my collection. But enclosures? Like I said, I’m using an ELC but I’ve read that they need substrate to bury their eggs in, so does it need to be something more like glass or plastic at the bottom?
The ELC stick insect cage has two full mesh sides and this ventilation is ideal for many species of stick insect, including the Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus), Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus), Australian Macleays Spectre stick insects (Extatosoma tiaratum), New Guinea stick insects (Eurycantha calcarata), Thailand stick insects (Baculum thaii), New Thailand stick insects (Baculum sp) and New Zealand stick insects (Acanthoxyla prasina). However there are a handful of species that prefer less-ventilated surroundings and these include the Giant Sabah stick insect (Trachyaretaon brueckneri), Sabah stick insects (Aretaon asperrimus) and Guadeloupe stick insects (Lamponius guerini). So, when housing these species in the ELC cage, you need to attach the clear Ventilation Control Panels over the white mesh sides to reduce the air-flow. And you wouldn't be able to house the Giant Sabah stick insects in the same ELC cage as your Indian stick insects because their ventilation requirements are different. Some species of stick insect bury their eggs, these species include: Giant Sabah stick insects (Trachyaretaon brueckneri), Sabah stick insects (Aretaon asperrimus), Malaysian stick insects (Heteropteryx dilatata) and New Guinea stick insects (Eurycantha calcarata). So when these females are adults and ready to bury their eggs, just place our "Sand Pit" on the paper Liner in the ELC cage. The "Sand Pit" is a small plastic pot filled to the brim with dry sterilised sand and the stick insects soon learn to bury their eggs in there. Sieve the sand every week and transfer the eggs to the HAP. The egg burying species of stick insects are usually much more thirsty than the other types and so it's also a really good idea to place our shallow "Water Dish" on the Liner and keep it filled with clean cold tap water, so they can have a drink anytime.

I'm relatively new to keeping Indian sticks and I'm almost through a whole generation. I've raised 5 adults from eggs and they now have the indicative red leg patches showing they're mature. At the tail end, it looks as though the tail has opened and turned upwards. Green coloured bulbous parts can be seen (as in the photos) but I can't find what this is anywhere. I thought it may be male genitalia but I also understand males are rare and this is happening to 3 adults in the 5!
Thanks for the photos and I can confirm that you have not got male Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus). You are correct in stating that male Indian stick insects are very rare, they only occur 1 in every 10000, so the probability is only 0.01%. Male Indian stick insects look very different to the females, they are much thinner, are light brown, have a red underside to the thorax and two sloping red marks on the upperside of the thorax, longer antennae, and their genitalia are hidden until they are engaging in the mating process. Male Indian stick insects behave differently too, they are hyper-active and walk very quickly! What you have are three Indian stick insects that are gynandromorphs. This condition refers to insects which have a mixture of both female and male characteristics. Your three Indian stick insects are predominantly female, but at the end of their abdomens are the classic green male genitalia, but as these are permanently on display they are not functional. This is a genetic fault and so that's why you have such a high percentage in your small sample. It's best if you don't save the eggs from these blighted individuals.

One of my Indian stick insect nymphs stopped pooing for a day (has done some since yesterday) and I don’t know if it’s eaten anything in a week. Also, it’s abdomen looks very droopy when hanging. What could be happening and is it likely to get better? I attach a photo.
I can see from your photo that this Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) has a sharp crease in her abdomen, causing the abdomen below this fold to drop down. This means that the tube inside her abdomen has a blockage where this crease is. So you need to gently squeeze her abdomen either side of the crease to re-inflate the tube inside. She should then recover quickly because her internal organs will be able to work correctly again.

I have had Indian stick insects for years and recently gave three fully grown ones to my sister for her birthday, together with another of your excellent ELC cages. Anyways, she's only had them two days but all three of them are still their classic "stick mode" on the Liner! I can tell they are still alive but am stumped as to why they are behaving this way? She has them in her front entrance, it is very bright with Christmas decorations and all the lights are always on. She doesn't use any air-fresheners and the hall thermostat is set at 20 degrees, so I don't think they're too hot.
An Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) falls to the ground in her "stick mode" with all her legs clamped alongside her body when she is frightened. This can be caused by a sudden noise, or a jolt to the cage and the stick insect will remain motionless and will look like a straight stick for several hours. However if this behaviour continues and the "stick mode" lasts for more than a day, then the stick insect is permanently stressed and from your description, the most likely cause here is continuous light. Stick insects must have a light and dark cycle, just like many other animals, and not be kept in continuous light. The fact your sister's lights are always on will be causing extreme stress to the Indian stick insects. So she needs to turn the lights off at night or move the ELC cage to a room that is light in the day and dark at night.

I am trying to work towards a career in entomology myself. I can do this "Diploma of Entomology" course on-line, 150 hours (see link attached). Is this course worth investing in? Or is it just another one of those waste of time courses?
Thanks for emailing the link, I can see this is a basic course, covering a wide range of entomological topics. Unfortunately there isn't any information on the sources of content for this course, and looking at the reviews for the other courses from this organisation, it appears that the content may be just cut and pasted from the internet. So it is likely that you can already acquire this knowledge using on-line information, or better still, from books written by professional entomologists. However, doing an on-line course does give you structure and incentive to complete the modules, and of course, may be enjoyable to do. But the diploma awarded is not likely to carry much weight in the job market. It is the recognised qualifications that matter ; these take years of full time study to achieve, for example science A levels (two years) and university biology degrees with entomology modules (three years). Or, if you intend to pursue a more practical role in rearing insects at an insect farm, then a keen open attitude with a desire to learn from people doing the job is far preferable than claiming to be knowledgable after completing a few hours of a non-practical course.

I heard an esteemed plant expert correcting a radio presenter on her pronunciation of the scientific name for giant rhubarb, and hoped you can tell me how to pronounce Carausius morosus correctly? I'm giving a science talk next month and don't want a similar humiliation!
I understand your concern, and I am happy to assist, I studied years of Latin at school and of course have had decades of experience with the scientific names /Latin species of stick insects, so know how they are pronounced! Carausius morosus is the Latin species name of the popular Indian stick insect and is pronounced as follows: "Ka (not car)-roe-see-uss" and then "Muh-roe-suss".

We had the first Pink Winged nymph hatch this week, so that was exciting. Do the stick insects need extra light when it's so dark outside?
Congratulations on your baby Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus), technically called a "first instar nymph". Newly hatched Pink Winged nymphs are pale green and relatively large (4cm total length) and do best if kept in the ELC stick insect cage from birth, living with the older stick insects already housed in there. They don't need any extra light during these winter months, but try to use the best quality food you can find, so seek out nice green bramble (blackberry) leaves and avoid the less nutritious yellow and brown leaves.

One of my Indian stick insects has a pale green jelly like blob by its bottom and after extensive research I am confident this is male genitalia, but the stick insect forum chatter is suggesting it's blood?
You are correct, male genitalia in stick insects is always of a dull jelly like appearance and varies in colour depending on the species. For example, it is pale green for Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) and blue for Sabah stick insects (Aretaon asperrimus). Indian stick insect blood is a green liquid, which dries to form a dark green scab and so looks completely different.

Can stick insects see in colour?
Yes, stick insects see objects clearly and in colour. All stick insects have two compound eyes, each consisting of hundreds of hexagonal lenses. All these contribute to produce a picture of the surroundings. In addition, some stick insects have three simple eyes on the top of their head. They do not form a picture - instead they register the surrounding brightness and adjust the sensitivity of the compound eyes.

Can stick insects eat anything else apart from bramble leaves? The hedgerows around here are looking pretty bleak just now, and I have Indian stick insects and Pink Winged stick insects to feed!
In the winter, it's best to look in overgrown sheltered areas for bramble (blackberry) because these plants retain their leaves far better than bramble growing in exposed hedgerows. So I suggest you go bramble hunting in a local wood or overgrown disused railway line. Eucalyptus is eaten by both Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) and Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus), so you may be lucky and have a eucalyptus tree nearby. And the evergreen popular hedging/bush called Red Robin (Photinia) is eaten by Indian stick insects too. Wallets of Fresh Cut Bramble can be purchased from Small-Life Supplies all year round, we always have lots of juicy green bramble growing outdoors here.

I got Macleay's Spectres from you in the past. I see on your website that you don't seem to have these anymore. Could you recommend anyone who does please?
Unfortunately the fatal virus that affects Australian Macleays Spectre stick insects (Extatosoma tiaratum) seems to have taken a hold again, and we have seen several instances of this unhealthy (and infectious) stock for sale. Symptoms include a floppy abdomen. Unfortunately I am unable to recommend anyone at the moment. If you do find a seller, I'd recommend asking them to email you some photos of the actual stick insects, so you can see if they can curl up their abdomens or not. Avoid buying from anywhere that is selling Australian Macleays Spectre stick insects that are dragging their abdomens (tails).

Are Indian stick insect eggs likely to hatch after 5 months? I think these two might be duds but not sure when it’s safe to get rid of them.
Indian stick insect eggs (Carausius morosus) usually hatch after four months, but this can be reduced to three months if the surroundings are unusually hot, or lengthened to five months if the surroundings are unusually cold. If your other Indian stick insect eggs have been hatching after four months, it is likely that these two eggs are duds. Also, if these eggs were laid by very old stick insects, they are less likely to hatch than eggs laid by younger healthier adults. But to be certain, you could keep these eggs for another month before disposing of them.

Is it safe to have stick insects delivered in December in the UK? My boyfriend wants a stick insect kit for Christmas.
Yes, Small-Life Supplies send stick insects nationwide to customers living in the UK in December. However, it must be mild enough at night for the stick insects to travel safely and so the weather forecast is monitored frequently and you are kept informed of when delivery will be. Your parcel can be left in your nominated "safe place" if you may be nipping out. The welfare of the stick insects is always prioritised and so no livestock is dispatched on any day a freezing night is forecast. Everything is dispatched by express 24 hour delivery, so the creatures are the minimum time in transit. The ELC stick insect cage is dispatched ready assembled and so you can transfer the stick insects to it on arrival. You can hide the gift in the cardboard box it arrived in until Christmas Day or give it to your boyfriend early. The stick insects eat bramble (blackberry) leaves, and some leaves are included with the stick insects for their journey, but you'll need to gather some fresh sprigs (or purchase Fresh Cut Bramble from Small-Life Supplies) because stick insects always need plenty of juicy green bramble leaves in the ELC cage.

Can't believe it! My first baby Indian stick insect hatched today in the HAP! I saved the egg on 13th August 2023 and so I wasn't expecting her to be born until 13th December 2023, she looks fine to me (photo attached), but is it going to be a problem that she's a couple of weeks premature?
Congratulations! Eggs of Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) hatch after approximately four months, but this incubation time can be reduced if the surroundings are hotter than average (for example hatching times are reduced in the hotter summer months and can be slightly extended in the colder winter months). Your stick insect looks nice and healthy and so will be fine. She can live in the HAP for the next month or so, it's important to give her a wet bramble (blackberry) leaf to eat and to change the HAP Liner every few days so she is being kept in clean surroundings.

Is the "Keeping Stick Insects" book still in print?
Yes, and new copies can be purchased from Small-Life Supplies, numonday.com and ebay.co.uk

Do stick insects pee?
No, stick insects cannot produce liquid urine. Instead they produce uric acid, which is in the form of dry odourless poo. The shape of poo varies according to the species of stick insect: the Thailand stick insects (Baculum thaii) produce thin strands, whereas the Malaysian stick insects (Heteropteryx dilatata) produce dense chunky cuboid pellets.

We are looking at buying the ELC cage bundle for our 11 year old son who is very keen to have some stick insects. I was just wondering what stick insects you would recommend, we have never had them before. I quite like the idea of a mixture if you think that would work.
Stick insects make fantastic pets and so it's great that your son would like some. A good mixture would be Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus), Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus) and Thailand stick insects (Baculum thaii). All these types eat bramble (blackberry) leaves and do well in the 51cm high ELC stick insect cage. Everything is in stock and there is room in the ELC cage for 4 Indian stick insects + 2 Pink Winged stick insects + 4 Thailand stick insects. These species look totally different and so it'll be easy for your son to tell them apart. More details on all of them are in the best-selling book "Keeping Stick Insects" by Dorothy Floyd (and you can purchase a signed copy with personal message!).

Do Indian stick insect eggs need much ventilation?
No, in fact for best results, store the Indian stick insect eggs (Carausius morosus) in a non-ventilated container, the HAP is ideal. If you store Indian stick insect eggs in an airy container, the babies (called first instar nymphs) often can't hatch properly and so retain the empty eggshell on a back leg or the tip of their abdomen (or both). This scenario can be easily avoided by storing the Indian stick insect eggs in a clear plastic container without air-holes.

Is this a ladybird larvae? I saw it whilst walking my dog this morning in Thetford, Norfolk.
The photo you emailed shows an adult orange ladybird with white spots. So no, it's not a ladybird larva, it's an adult ladybird. Incidentally, larvae is the plural of larva, so the word larvae refers to more than one larva, so your question should be "is this a ladybird larva?". Many people think all British ladybirds are red with black spots, but there are other colour combinations and sizes, depending on the species. There are approx 40 species of ladybird in the UK including ones with yellow bodies and black spots, black bodies with red spots, orange bodies with black spots and, as you have photographed, orange bodies with white spots. The larva (immature form) of a ladybird is a totally different shape to the adult, is wingless, and usually has a dark grey body (with splashes of colour) and six legs that have no feet!

A work colleague is leaving very soon and I know he has a few of the normal stick insects, so we thought a different type would make the perfect leaving gift! We've selected the New Guinea stick insects kit and my question is could we specify a delivery day? We're in a small industrial estate but we'd like them to arrive the day before his big send off, would this be possible? Oh, and could we get some extra bramble as well, so we can set it up nicely for the photos?
New Guinea stick insects (Eurycantha calcarata) are very large, chunky and long-lived (up to three years) and so I am sure your work colleague will be delighted with your thoughtful gift. Currently the weather is mild at night and so stick insects are being dispatched to customers across the UK without any delays because it is warm enough for them to travel safely. So yes, please let us know what day you'd like to receive them (Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday) and this can be arranged. Also, no problem with adding the Wallet of Fresh Cut Bramble to the order, this won't increase the express delivery price of £9.96. The ELC cage is ideal for the New Guinea stick insects and this set will give your colleague years of enjoyment.

Where is the best advice on stick insects for pets?
The book "Keeping Stick Insects" by Dorothy Floyd is full of useful stick insect advice, including basic biology of stick insects and detailed information on the care, behaviour and descriptions of the popular stick insect species being kept as pets. In the UK, new copies of this book are for sale on ebay.co.uk, numonday.com and direct from small-life.co.uk. Specific stick insect questions are answered on this "Ask Professor Phasmid" page.

I was reading about the phenomenon of single gender births amongst stick insects, this is when an entire generation of eggs from mated females from a sexually dimorphic species all hatch into one gender. I would be interested to know if this has ever been witnessed in the breeding cultures of phasmids at Small-Life Supplies?
Yes, this occurred once at Small-Life Supplies, about twenty years ago. We had been rearing the Javanese stick insect (Orxines macklottii) successfully for many years, each generation producing males and females in an approximately equal ratio. Then, for no apparent reason, all the eggs hatched into males only! So we were unable to continue breeding this interesting species of stick insect. The rearing conditions and food supply had not changed.

I think I got some bad advice because I was told to spray the bodies of my Indian stick insects with water. They don't look too good so I've stopped. But am I too late?
It's a really bad idea to mist water onto the bodies of Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus). This is because the droplets can block the breathing holes which are positioned down either side of the body. And water that lingers on the body can cause fungal infections, this becomes really obvious because brown and black patches appear on the stick insect's body. So it's important to only spray water onto the leaves in the cage, this is so the stick insects can drink from these water droplets if they are thirsty. Hopefully your stick insects will be OK, but isolate any that exhibit fungal infections.

Do stick insects need extra heat?
No, temperatures of 18 degrees Celsius during the day and 12 degrees Celsius at night are fine for most stick insects. One of the big advantages of keeping stick insects is that they do not require extra heat when kept inside as pets. Most homes and schools in the UK should be insulated enough to accommodate these temperatures or have a programmable thermostat. However, if this does not apply and your room regularly drops below 12 degrees Celsius at night, then it's best to invest in a portable 500 Watt oil-filled radiator and plug this into a wall socket near to the ELC cage housing your stick insects. This device is safe to use, economical to run and emits a gentle warmth which raises the temperature in the stick insects' cage. Avoid ceramic heaters which can be a fire risk and avoid heat mats too because these can dry out the foliage too much and also create skin-shedding issues for the stick insects.

Our wild patch at the back of the garden has loads of bramble but now some of the main stems are brown and the bits off these are brown as well, obviously dead. I'm concerned because this is our back-up supply for the stick insects and I don't get why some of it looks fine but some is dying off?
This is normal for bramble (blackberry) bushes. Throughout the year some stems die for no apparent reason, and fresh ones grow on top. Most die-back occurs during the autumn months. Throughout the year, we always cut dead stems to ground level and remove them, this allows space for new bramble to grow. If you don't do this the new growth appears on top and the bush just gets higher and higher, and can soon become unmanageable in a garden. In wild areas, where bramble is left to grow unchecked, it soon becomes a haven for deer and other creatures to shelter inside.

Is there a reason why the book "Keeping Stick Insects" by Dorothy Floyd is listed on Amazon at £139.86 (only one copy available) and yet the price is £12 on this website?
This best-selling book is not supplied by the publisher direct to Amazon and so the copies for sale on Amazon are from resellers who can ask for much higher prices. The Small-Life Supplies £12 price is for a brand new copy of "Keeping Stick Insects" and you have the option of it being signed by the author as well (at no extra charge). This book is also for sale on numonday.com, again at the fair price of £12.

I just saw your response to my question about the Indian stick insect and thought I’d email to answer the questions you’ve asked me. This Indian stick insect on the top photo is 8-9 weeks old and measures 4-4.5cm from head to tail, not including outstretched legs. She is from the same batch as the one that matured too fast so wanted to see if she is developing as she should. She lives in a different enclosure and usually a different building to the older ones which are class pets, behaves normally and just moulted. Here is the 5 week old underneath for comparison. She is smaller than her mother was and has a similar level of activity to the other stick insect, who is developing similarly and also small. She had her last shed about a week ago. Both stick insects seem healthy and have access to fresh bramble. They’ve been moved around a lot between a classroom and houses so I don’t know if that’s affected them? I woke up to find my 6 week old Indian stick insect with her head folded in like this - on closer observation I can see she’s moulting but is that normal for her head to do that? I’ve given her an extra spray in case she needed it.
Thanks for the update and more photos. Your stick insects look healthy and it is reassuring to hear that the smaller one is behaving normally. Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) can travel well, so don't be concerned about that. When you measure a stick insect, it's best to measure the total length, so this includes the front legs outstretched plus the body length. The average total length for an adult Indian stick insect is 10.8cm. Every stick insect begins a skin-change by bending its head round and your photo has captured this. That behaviour is normal and doesn't require intervention, so if you see this again please don't disturb the stick insect. For a stick insect that age, the process of skin-changing (ecdysis) should be relatively quick and easy and successfully completed in approximately ten minutes. It's generally better to house very young Indian stick insects in less ventilated surroundings (for example the HAP) and then transfer them to a more airy cage (the ELC cage is ideal) as they grow.

Do stick insects need a water bowl?
No, most species of stick insect obtain enough moisture from eating the bramble (blackberry) leaves. A light misting of the leaves is recommended in the afternoon so the stick insects can drink from the water droplets on the leaves. Only spray the leaves, do not randomly spray inside the cage and avoid getting the stick insects wet! However, a few species drink a lot more water and do require a shallow water bowl in the ELC cage, these include the following: New Guinea stick insects (Eurycantha calcarata), Sabah (Aretaon asperrimus), Giant Sabah (Trachyaretaon brueckneri) and Malaysian (Heteropteryx dilatata).

I am a veterinarian in Belgium and right now I have a big gauze enclosure of 80cm height x 45cm depth and width. I have one female Malaysian jungle nymph (Heteropteryx dilatata) in there (I had two couples but the rest have already died) and she’s together with nine growing kids of Sunny stick insects (Sungaya inexpectata). I was wondering whether I could add some other species of stick insects to their enclosure? Since it’s a very big enclosure, full of plenty of blackberry leaves all the time. Would it be okay for example to add a couple of Australian giant prickly stick insects (Extatosoma tiaratum)?
Unfortunately your existing cage is not designed for all the species you mention. Your gauze cage is too ventilated for most stick insects, but would be suitable for the following species: Australian Macleays Spectre (Extatosoma tiaratum), Pink Winged (Sipyloidea sipylus), Thailand (Baculum thaii) and New Thailand (Baculum sp). Your Sunny stick insects (Sungaya inexpectata) would do better if they were re-housed in a cage with two mesh sides and two solid sides, so that they have through-draught ventilation but not as much as with four ventilated sides. The Malaysian stick insects (Heteropteryx dilatata) die in cages that are too ventilated and so need to be housed in cages with much reduced air-flow. An ELC cage with Ventilation Control Panels attached over the mesh sides is ideal. Avoid housing them in glass tanks because these surroundings can become too humid causing the Malaysian stick insects' joints to go black. Unfortunately ELC stick insect cages are no longer exported to Belgium because the process is now too difficult since the UK left the EU.

This stick insect hatched mid-July and looks like an adult, but not laying eggs? Does she have any moults left or is she simply not ready to lay eggs?
Thanks for emailing a photo of your Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus). She has red tops to her front legs where they join her thorax, which indicates she is mature. But she looks smaller and thinner than she should. Usually Indian stick insects take five months to become adults, so it is odd she has grown so quickly? She also looks brown at the front and green at the back, which is unusual because the bodies of Indian stick insects are usually uniform in colour. How is she behaving - is she more active than the others? Has she recently shed her skin? If so, it's best to make sure she has plenty of nice juicy green bramble leaves to eat and watch her progress. It's doubtful she will lay many eggs though, so hopefully you have some other adult Indian stick insects that will be laying eggs, so you can keep some of their eggs to hatch out?

Please tell me whether your New Guinea stick insects are still likely to be in stock in time for Christmas delivery? My grandad really wants these and will pay half towards his present. He said I could get them early if they're likely to sell out. We're in Leeds.
Yes, I'd definitely recommend getting these now, whilst they are available. Our New Guinea stick insects (Eurycantha calcarata) are really nice chunky young adults, used to being handled and will make an excellent present for your grandad. We breed them here at Small-Life Supplies but stocks of this species are limited and so they are likely to sell out within the next couple of weeks or so. The "New Guinea Stick Insects Kit " includes everything that you need to keep these impressive stick insects successfully.

Are stick insects dangerous?
Yes, some species are dangerous and should not be kept as pets. One species that some irresponsible people are selling in the UK is a small dark striped stick insect with the species name Anisomorpha buprestoides. This species has several common names including : Florida stick insect, two striped walking stick insect and Devil's rider stick insect. It also occurs naturally in the swamps in Texas, USA. This species should not be kept in captivity because it can spray a jet of acid into your eyes, causing blindness for 5 days. It also aims for the eyes of pet dogs and cats etc, causing similar agony.

What size enclosure does a stick insect need?
The minimum size recommended is 46cm high x 25cm x 25cm. The minimum height of 46cm is very important because it allows stick insects the space to moult properly. They shed their skins by sliding vertically downwards and so need a tall cage to be able to do this successfully. The ELC stick insect cage is 51cm high x 36.5cm x 27.5cm and is the perfect cage for keeping stick insects properly.

One of my Indian stick insects is due for its second moult any day now - is there still a way to tell if the moult has happened even if I don’t see the old skin?
Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) often moult/shed their skins at night, so you may miss seeing the actual event. And often they eat their cast-off white skin afterwards, this is done straight away whilst it is still soft and moist, when it is easy to consume and digest. However, the new size of the stick insect is very obvious, she will almost have doubled in length and so you will notice that! Also, initially her body will look a pale green, but after a few days it will darken in colour. It's best not to handle an Indian stick insect that has just shed her skin because she will be weak after her ordeal and her skin will be soft and susceptible to damage.

Thought I'd get my niece some stick insect eggs to hatch, but then saw your site and think it might be cool to get the stick insects instead? Do they travel okay? I'm in Bristol, UK.
Yes, it's much more exciting to have the actual stick insects to handle and hold, rather than waiting weeks or months for stick insect eggs to hatch! Small-Life Supplies breed harmless species of stick insects at our facility in the UK and also manufacture the proper ELC stick insect cages, which are specially designed to suit the needs of the stick insects and their owners. We guarantee live arrival and the stick insects are delivered to Bristol on a 24 hour service, to ensure minimum time in transit. We let you know when delivery will be (within a two hour time window) and of course everything is expertly packaged for safe travel. And once your niece has her own stick insects, she can save a few of their eggs and hatch out the next generation!

Is it too early to buy stick insects for Christmas?
Christmas stick insect purchases are already being accepted! A popular option is to ask for the ELC cage bundle to be delivered now, and then request the stick insects to follow on later. You can request delivery nearer to Christmas (mid-December is the latest) or you can request January 2024 delivery when things are calmer after the festivities. Or you can ask for everything to be delivered together. We guarantee live arrival and we prioritise the welfare of the stick insects, so we can only send them out when it is mild enough at night for these creatures to travel safely. This means we monitor the weather forecast frequently and we keep you updated as to when delivery will be possible.

I'm so happy that you have New Guinea stick insects for sale again, these have been on my wish-list for ages! Please can you explain about the sand and the sieve? How does it pass through the sieve if it's wet? And do you sell replacement sand?
Yes, our New Guinea stick insects (Eurycantha calcarata) are just becoming fully grown and so are ready to travel to their new homes. They are supplied in pairs of one adult female and one adult male. The female buries her eggs in dry sand and so place the Sand Pit (included in the kit) on the Liner, touching the fixed white mesh side of the ELC cage. The adult female gets a good grip on the mesh side with her large claws and then she pushes her pointed ovipositor into the dry sand and digs a hole with it, using it as a spade. She ejects an egg into the hole and then uses her ovipositor to cover it up with more dry sand. This process is repeated most days for the next year or more. Every week, you remove the Sand Pit and tip the contents into the Metal Sieve provided. Collect the dry sand which passes through the sieve and tip it back into the original Sand Pit container. It is really important to place the Sand Pit back exactly in the same position in the ELC cage because the stick insect needs to know where it is so she can lay more eggs. Because you keep re-using the sand there is no need to buy any more sand. The loose eggs should be place in a clear plastic container without airholes, for example the HAP, and some should hatch after approximately six months.

Why are they called silkmoths? Have they got silky wings?
Their wings are soft and velvety but the name is not about the wings. Silkmoths are so-called because silk can be extracted from their cocoons. The fully grown caterpillar (called a silkworm) spins a cocoon around itself using silk thread that comes out of its body. If you have your own Indian Eri silkmoth kit, you can watch this process happening, it usually takes an hour or so to complete. Once encased by the silk cocoon, the caterpillar sheds its skin for the last time and transforms into a brown pupa. Weeks later, the giant silkmoth breaks out of the pupa and crawls out of the specially weakened area at one end of the silk cocoon. With suitable knowledge and expertise, commercial entities can extract the silk from the silk cocoon by immersing it in very hot water so that the silk thread unwinds. Here at Small-Life Supplies, we also sell the empty silk cocoons as well as the Indian Eri silkmoth kits.

How necessary is it for stick insects to fly? I like the look of the Macleays Spectre stick insects but the seller said I'd need to allow the males to fly around the room once a week! That is freaking me out! I toyed with the idea of just getting females but that seems mean, so I thought maybe the males could just stay in the enclosure, but I guess that would be mean too?
The seller has advised you correctly. All adult male Australian Macleays Spectre stick insects (Extatosoma tiaratum) have wings and should be allowed the opportunity to fly freely across a room. Some individuals are keener to fly than others, and in general those that fly the most have the shortest lifespans. And yes, you are correct in wanting both genders, because this species has a 50:50 ratio of males to females in the wild and so ideally you need to replicate this in the captive environment. Depending on your level of unease with flying stick insects, one option could be to try keeping a species that is a moderate flier (such as Pink Winged stick insects, Sipyloidea sipylus) as opposed to a keen flier (Australian Macleays Spectre stick insects). If this works out, you could then progress to keeping Australian Macleays Spectre stick insects. Or, if you are really not comfortable with flying stick insects, then why not try a large chunky type that does not have wings, for example the New Guinea stick insects (Eurycantha calcarata) may be a better option for you.

Would you say that Indian stick insects are the best sort to start with? I'm thinking ahead to my boy's birthday next month, he'll be eight and loves bugs!
Yes, definitely the Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) would be an excellent choice for your son. Small-Life Supplies send out fully grown Indian stick insects and so your boy can enjoy handling these. The best enclosure for stick insects is the ELC cage and if you opt for the ELC bundle you will receive the other useful bits too, including ten disposable ELC cage Liners, the Sprig Pot (for keeping the bramble leaves fresh) and the soft Cleaning Sponge (use to wipe down the cage surfaces every month). And don't forget he can have his own signed copy of the best-selling book "Keeping Stick Insects" by Dorothy Floyd, with a hand written message wishing him a Happy 8th Birthday!

Are you able to provide more details on using stick insect frass as fertiliser for houseplants? This has piqued my interest and I am curious as to whether the frass from any species is better or worse than another?
For years, Small-Life Supplies has been tipping the frass (poo) from stick insects into a bucket, adding water, leaving a few days for it to partially dissolve, and then pouring it over house and garden plants. The nitrogen in the frass acts as an excellent fertiliser. We have found that the frass from Thailand stick insects (Baculum thaii) and Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus) works best and is the most effective as a fertiliser. This is probably due to the shape of the frass, having a high surface area to volume ratio. So we use this in preference to the larger more compact frass produced by chunkier stick insects such as New Guinea stick insects (Eurycantha calcarata).

Is it OK to handle the Indian Eri silkworms?
You can handle them but a lot of patience is needed to handle the Indian Eri silkworms (Samia ricini). This is because the rear claspers on their bodies can get a really firm grip and often they are reluctant to release this grip. In contrast, the adult Indian Eri silkmoths are easy to handle, they are huge insects and will walk across your hand and sometimes take off for a short flight around the room.

I hope you don't mind but I have never had a PayPal invoice before and so am unsure how it works? Do I need to email you my address as well as my email? I live in Birmingham and want to buy the ELC cage bundle for my stick insects (they are due an upgrade!). Do I have to log in to PayPal?
It is a very straight forward process, just let us know your email, your delivery postcode and what you want to buy. A real person at Small-Life Supplies then arranges for PayPal to email you the "PayPal invoice" which details the items you wish to purchase with the prices, including delivery. You check it's correct and then click on their "pay" link which takes you to your PayPal account so you can authorise payment. PayPal then notifies Small-Life Supplies with details of your order and they give us the delivery address that they have on file for you. At this point a real person at Small-Life Supplies emails you directly to confirm your order and advise of when delivery will be. Although we only ask for the delivery postcode, there is no harm in emailing your full address to us as well, this allows us to double check that all the details are correct.

One of my New Guinea stick insect males is a bit jumpy and curls his tail? Any tips on curbing his anxiety? He reached maturity a few weeks ago.
The ears on stick insects are near their knees and so it's recommended to talk to them in a soft calm voice because this helps them to relax. It is normal for young adult New Guinea stick insects (Eurycantha calcarata) to be a bit unsteady at first, but usually soon calm down after a few days as they get used to their new size. So your male needs some listening therapy! Also, make sure that he has a Water Dish of clean tap water in the ELC cage and plenty of good quality bramble (blackberry) leaves to eat. New Guinea stick insects benefit from being taken out the ELC cage regularly and allowed to walk across a floor or table. When you do this with your nervous male, be sure to remain calm because if he senses you are anxious, he will "play up" even more.

I phoned Small-Life Supplies to ask about the silkworms and was told they're not quite ready yet, but hopefully next week they should be big enough to travel safely. I work at a school and so we'll definitely be getting several sets, but my question is about their food? I had planned on raiding a local privet hedge, but when I checked today, it had been drastically cut back! Do the Indian Eri silkworms eat anything else?
Indian Eri silkworms (Samia ricini) do best on privet leaves, but we have also raised them on euclayptus leaves. Don't worry about the supply of fresh cut privet, because this is available to purchase alongside the silkworms, everything will be listed together on the website. If you store the bag of fresh cut privet in the bottom of the fridge, it stays fresh for a week. And more fresh cut privet can be sent to you in future weeks, as required.

We were really upset to find that one of our female New Guinea stick insects had died during her final skin shed. Looking at the body, it seems that she was unable to break through her old exoskeleton. As this is the first time that this has happened to us, we're wondering if it's a common occurrence, or if there's something that we could have done differently. Could she have been disturbed by the other adult New Guineas moving around in the cage?
Sorry to hear this. It's not the fault of the other stick insects. The first stage of ecdysis is the splitting of the exoskeleton down a line on the middle of the top of the thorax. This is triggered by a chemical response within the stick insect and sometimes this just does not work, so that is what has happened to your stick insect. The only time this is a common occurence is when a genetic fault is present, so if this starts happening with your other New Guinea stick insects, then you would need to stop breeding that particular strain because they are no longer healthy. However,in the meantime, let's hope it was just an individual stick insect with a faulty hormonal system.

I had a large collection of stick insects when I lived in Leicester, most purchased from Small-Life Supplies, I even visited one of your Open Days! Then I scaled back due to changes in personal circumstances, but now things are looking better and so I'd like to start up again. I fondly remember the "New Thailand" stick insects, these were parthenogenetic and were like a longer version of the standard Thailand. They're not on your website, so I wondered if you were still breeding these or decided to drop them from your range? Also, would the ELC cage be suitable?
It's great that you're going to be starting to keep stick insects again. And yes, we still breed "New Thailand" stick insects ( Baculum sp.) They are parthenogenetic and grow to 22cm long, so are much longer than the female Thailand stick insect (Baculum thaii) who grows to 18.5cm. We have large nymphs available now, I'd recommend a couple for an ELC cage, the New Thailand stick insects do well in a well ventilated cage and so yes, the ELC cage is great housing for them. To order, please phone Small-Life Supplies on 01733 913480 weekdays, during office hours.

We put a mixture of frass and eggs from our Thailand stick insects in an ice cream tub on 25th August 2023 (my son insisted we put the exact date on!) and today there are seven babies on the lid! What do we do now?
Congratulations! Thailand stick insects (Baculum thaii) have very short egg incubation times, so hatching after 4 weeks is normal during late summer. Most other species of stick insect have eggs which take several months to develop. And Malaysian stick insect (Heteropteryx dilatata) eggs are particularly slow, taking one and a half years! Baby Thailand stick insects (called first instar nymphs) do well in the ELC cage from birth. So set up your ELC cage with long fresh bramble sprigs in the Sprig Pot of water, and lightly mist the leaves. Then lift off the lid of your ice cream tub and gently blow the baby stick insects off the lid onto the wet leaves. Baby stick insects are thirsty and like to drink. Young Thailand stick insects usually cluster on the leaves, but as the stick insects grow they will explore the ELC cage more and will soon be resting on the white mesh sides.

I have several Malaysian stick insect nymphs in the ELC cage, the females are green and the males are brown. Two of the green females like to hang out, they are the same size but one is much fatter than the other, does this mean she will shed her skin soon? Or is something wrong, her body feels softer than usual, if that makes sense?
Your fat female Malaysian stick insect nymph (Heteropteryx dilatata) is about to shed her skin. This will probably be tonight, so this evening (before you switch the light off) please check that she is at the top of the mesh side of the ELC, with her head facing downwards towards the Liner, so she will have plenty of room to shed her skin successfully. All stick insect nymphs look fat just before a skin-change, but the soft body is a useful indicator that means a skin-change (ecdysis) is imminent. This is why I am able to predict that your stick insect will shed her skin tonight (like most stick insects, Malaysian stick insects prefer to shed their skins during the night when it is dark).

Help please with the pub quiz! I'm compiling the wildlife questions and want to include some on stick insects, I'm thinking spelling would be the fairest way. I'll mix them up, but please check I've got it right, all the answers are A? Q.1) One egg is called: ovum (A) or ova (B). Q.2) A young stick insect is called: nymph (A) or larva (B). Q.3) Stick insect species that are 99.99% female are called: Parthenogenetic (A) or Parthogenic (B). Q.4) People who study insects are called: Entomologists (A) or Etymologists (B).
Yes, that's correct! It's great that you are including some stick insect questions, and I think you've got a good mix there of easy and more challenging ones.

I've rescued some Thailand stick insects from a guy who's moving out. They're in a bit of a mess TBH, too many in a cloudy tank. I've reserved one of your used ELC cages, which I've been told will be delivered on Thursday, so that's good to save some money! My question is about curly legs? Six or seven of the Thailand stick insect have short curly legs, why is this?
If a stick insect nymph (immature stick insect) panics or is roughly handled or is kept in overcrowded conditions or is short of food or water, it may lose one or more legs. The stick insect can still walk around using its remaining legs but initially there is nothing visible where the discarded leg used to be. However, when the Thailand stick insect (Baculum thaii) completes its next skin change (ecdysis), a short curly leg appears! This is called a regenerated leg. Being short and curly it is not of much use at this stage, but after the next skin-change, it will have transformed into a small miniature functioning leg, which will help the stick insect a lot. And after the next skin-change (if there is another skin-change because the stick insect is still a nymph and not an adult), the leg will grow bigger and be even more useful. So don't worry about your Thailand stick insects with curly legs, because these legs will become more useful as your stick insects grow larger. And your Thailand stick insects will have a much better life in the airy ELC cage instead of the stuffy tank they started life in.
Is my stick insect OK? She briefly had her antenna in her mouth, using her leg to swallow it? Is she bored? Is she self-harming? Paula is an Indian stick insect, she lives by herself in the ELC cage and is eight months old and lays eggs most days. I have looked after her since her birth.
Paula is fine. In fact she is taking good care of herself, what you saw was her cleaning her antenna. Stick insects do this by passing each antenna in turn through their wet mouth, gently exercising their mouthparts over the surface of the antenna as it passes through. They use their front leg to guide the antenna through the mouth. This is a fast process, completed within a couple of minutes, so most people never witness this behaviour. Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) like to be in the company of other Indian stick insects, so I'd recommend you get some more Indian stick insects so Paula can hang out with them. There is plenty of room in the ELC cage for up to twenty Indian stick insects, and Small-Life Supplies sell adult Indian stick insects in packs of four.

The news media has emphasised that American XL bully dogs have been genetically bred to be aggressive. Can the same apply to stick insects? And if so, is anyone doing this?
Yes, some stick insects can be selectively bred to enhance particular characteristics. So yes, with stick insects, particularly aggressive individuals can be kept together to produce more aggressive offspring. Here at Small-Life Supplies, we do the complete opposite, so deliberately do not save any eggs resulting from adults (male and female) who display excessive aggression. This is because the stick insects that Small-Life Supplies supply are to be kept as pets and so need to be suitable for handling etc. Excessive aggressive behaviour can sometimes be seen in the Malaysian stick insect (Heteropteryx dilatata) and the New Guinea stick insect (Eurycantha calcarata). Of course as well as there being a genetic element, the method of rearing these stick insects plays a key part in how they behave, so it is always important to be calm around these large chunky stick insects and not to mistreat them or stress them by depriving them of good quality food and fresh drinking water.

One of the male Thailand stick insects seems very inactive and looks like he's not doing well. He has been mating over the last few weeks. How long after mating do the males live for, on average? He is usually very active. We know the active ones usually have a shorter lifespan.
Male and female Thailand stick insects (Baculum thaii) mate regularly throughout their adult lives. Both genders have the same lifespan, on average. However, the very active individuals (irrespective of gender) have shorter lifespans than their less active counterparts. This applies across all species, so for example individual adult Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus) that fly a lot do not live as long as the ones who fly less often. And New Guinea stick insects (Eurycantha calcarata) that like to trek a lot across tables and floors don't live as long as individuals who prefer shorter strolls. Unfortunately it appears that your active male Thailand stick insect is dying, if the surviving female is still a relatively young adult, you could consider getting another male for her. The average lifespan for Thailand stick insects is 14 months, they are adults for 9 months of this.
It's been so hot the last week I am questioning the need to put the bramble stems in water? My stick insects are eating ALL the leaves every night, it's been 24 degrees at night and 28 degrees by day, and they're eating like crazy! Would it be OK to just put some loose stems and leaves without the water in the cage, I feed them in the evening, just before their meal?
Very hot day and night temperatures result in stick insects consuming far more food than normal. So yes, there's no point wasting time standing the food in water if it is all going to be eaten in one night! So use loose leaves and loose cut sprigs of bramble (blackberry) during this heatwave. Slant the stems and leaves upwards in the ELC cage so the stick insects can eat the leaves easily, this is better than the food being laid flat on the ELC Liner. Cooler weather is forecast this week and so room temperatures should soon be back to normal (18 degrees Celsius during the day and 12 degrees Celsius at night). At these temperatures revert to using the Sprig Pot of cold tap water to keep your bramble sprigs fresh in the cage for approximately one week.

I have noticed several of these beautiful moths in my garden this week, they have shimmering white wings a brown border (see photo attached). These are new to me so please can you enlighten me as to what they are and why there are so many at the moment in Cambridgeshire?
The populations of different species of butterflies and moths fluctuate year to year, depending on the light intensity, temperature, food availability, predator numbers etc. September 2023 has been a bumper year for the Box Tree Moth (Cydalima perspectalis) with loads of people recording sightings of them in Cambridgeshire. This is a very pretty moth and you have taken a nice photo of one. It is called the Box Tree Moth because its caterpillars eat the leaves of the ornamental Box plant (often grown as tiny hedges and for topiary). Sometimes people confuse privet leaves with box leaves but they are completely different types of plant, the box leaves are tougher and smaller and not eaten by any stick insects.

I just read a piece in the "New Scientist" magazine questioning whether it is morally right to name living organisms after people, for example the beetle Anophthalmus hitleri was named after Hitler in the 1930s. And more recently a Californian moth being classified as Neopalpa donaldtrumpi in 2017. I'd be interested in your views on the matter.
I have always been against naming any living organism after a person, mainly because there is no logical connection between the two and so I cannot see how it can be justified. So I think the practice should be stopped now. However, I feel the names such as the examples you give should remain, because this is vital to assist current biologists when they search for studies that have been done on that particular insect. The difficulty with eradicating controversial names is that it can make it impossible to find any scientific work published on that organisism. This just compounds the issue of knowledge being lost and research work being redone unnecessarily.

Is it OK to mix stick insects? I have Pink Winged stick insects in an ELC cage.
Yes, you can mix other slim stick insects in the same ELC cage as your Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus). Good choices would be the Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) and/or the Thailand stick insect (Baculum thaii). All these stick insects eat bramble (blackberry) leaves and live well together. Avoid mixing the Peruvian Black Beauty stick insects (Peruphasma schultei) in with the above because Peruvian Black Beauty stick insects readily emit a chemical spray which irritates other stick insects (and sensitive people). And avoid mixing the Giant Sabah stick insects (Trachyareaton brueckneri) with the above because Giant Sabah stick insects prefer less-ventilated conditions and so need to be housed in the ELC cage with the Ventilation Control Panels attached (to reduce the air-flow).

Does the ELC stick insect cage dismantle for cleaning?
No. It's very important not to dismantle the ELC cage because it is not designed for this. Use a disposable pre-cut ELC Liner to contain the eggs and frass (poo) from the stick insects, and replace this Liner once a week. Having removed the lid, side panel and Liner, it is best to tip the ELC cage upsidedown and vigorously shake the cage to dislodge any debris that may have slipped off the Liner when you lifted it out. Don't worry about the stick insects on the fixed mesh side, because they have a good grip with their claws and rarely fall off (and don't get hurt even if they do let go). Use the soft Cleaning Sponge to wipe down the plastic panels and remember to always use cold water or lukewarm water. Never use hot water because this will permanently distort the plastic panels and spoil your ELC cage. A soft Cleaning Sponge is included when you purchase the ELC bundle.

We are seeking advice for our spiny leaf insect, Chip, who is looking very ill. Our spiny leaf insect is about 6 or 7 months old and moulted this morning, but now looks very weak. Her moult was standard except for the last part of removing her tail. She stayed in that position for many hours. Now, about 12 hours later, she hasn't eaten her skin, she refuses to eat but is willing to drink, and she does not have enough strength to stand on her own. We are very worried about her. We've attached photos of her and her moult for reference.
Thank you for emailing the photos, I can see Chip is an adult female Australian Macleays Spectre stick insect (Extatosoma tiaratum). She has completed her final skin change successfully and is a perfect specimen. The delay in pulling her tail out of the old skin is normal behaviour. The final skin-change is the most difficult for the large species of stick insects because it requires a lot of energy. So afterwards the stick insect should not be disturbed for a couple for days, to allow her time to rest and recover. So it is unfortunate that you have bothered Chip because this will have made her even weaker. Please leave her to rest and place sprigs of leaves around her so they are in easy reach so she can eat them if she wants to. She won't eat her shed skin now because it will have hardened. Australian Macleays Spectre stick insects often don't eat their shed skins, so that is no cause for concern. Sadly, sometimes the effort of completing the last skin change (ecdysis) is just too much, and despite doing a good job, the stick insect is so exhausted it dies within a few days. This behaviour is seen in the larger species of stick insect, including the Australian Macleays Spectre stick insect (Extatosoma tiaratum), Australian Titan stick insect (Acrophylla wuelfingi), and North East Vietnamese stick insect (Medauromorpha regina).

On the subject of Indian stick insect parthenogenesis, in the book "Keeping Stick Insects" by Dorothy Floyd on page 28 it states (referring to the rare male Indian stick insect) that "These insects probably do mate despite the fact that the female can reproduce without a male". My question is, has any research work been done to analyse the gender of the offspring of those eggs (produced after mating)?
Here at Small-Life Supplies we have isolated the eggs produced from Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) that have been observed to mate with the really rare male Indian stick insects. We have repeated this every time we rear a male. But the hatching eggs are still 99.99% female. In 2023 research by Japanese based scientists, headed by their National Institute for Basic Biology, have also concluded that the rare males occuring in another parthenogenetic species of stick insect, Ramulus mikado, do not reverse the parthenogenetic process, stating "our histological observation demonstrated that females received a spermataphore without sperms in their copulatory pouch". As the with Indian stick insects, the "rare males of Ramulus mikado have seemingly complete genital organs ...and show the usual mating with conspecific females".

Please can you give me examples of stick insects which have more than one species name in common usage? It's part of my dissertation and I'm gathering as many examples as possible for various insects, including phasmids.
Yes, of course, this topic continues to divide biologists, with some wanting to use the latest Latin name suggested, whilst others preferring to continue using the established Latin species names, some of which were assigned two centuries ago. The latter makes searching for previous research work published on that species much easier and so a lot of scientists are reluctant to use the new species names proposed. Current common examples include: the Annam stick insect which has been classified as Baculum extradentatum for decades, but is also now also called Medauroidea extradentata. Another example is the Giant Sabah stick insect, identified as being Trachyaretaon brueckneri but some people are now calling it Trachyaretaon carmelae. And the very colourful stick insect called Achrioptera fallax now has the alternative name of Achrioptera manga.

Our New Guinea stick insects are becoming fully grown, but WOW, what a difference in size! Tobes is tiny compared to Tristan who's massive! Both males, both perfect with all their appendages and a lovely glossy brown, but I'd say Tristan is about 50% bigger! Any reason?
There is no cause for concern, this is a frequent occurrence. New Guinea stick insects (Eurycantha calcarata) reared in the same conditions often result in adults of vastly varying sizes. The male New Guinea stick insects often reach maturity slightly ahead of the females, and you will probably see variation in the size of your adult female New Guinea stick insects too. The genders pair up with similar sizes, so Tobes will choose to be with a small adult female, whereas Tristan will mate with the largest adult female. The smaller adults have the advantage of having longer lifespans than their larger counterparts.

I'm in the US and we have Annam walking sticks, I attach a photo. Please tell me the species name and also are they sexually dimorphic?
Yes, your photo is of a female Annam stick insect (Baculum extradentatum). And yes, they are sexually dimorphic, which means the males look different to the females. The males are slimmer. Annam stick insects have always been popular in the US and have been known for decades by the Latin species name Baculum extradentatum. There is some confusion though, because recently some members of the public are using a different Latin species name, Medauroidea extradentata to identify the same species. However, respected academic scientists continue to use the original Latin species name Baculum extradentatum and have published extensive research work on this species, covering antioxidative defence, cardiac regulation, cardiac neurons and haemocytes.

I am looking at buying the ELC stick insect cage but I cannot find where to buy the disposable liners.
You can now purchase both items together from the Small-Life Supplies page on numonday.com. That listing includes twenty green ELC Liners, but if you'd prefer blue ELC Liners or pink ELC Liners, just request this in the comments box and this will be arranged for you. Here is the link: https://www.numonday.com/shop/small-life-supplies/

My Giant African Land Snails seem very picky about their greens. Is this normal? I've no idea what weeds I'm getting for them, I'm just grabbing a handful when I'm out on a walk. But the snails aren't eating them?
Yes, Giant African Land Snails (Achatina fulica) are very fussy when it comes to eating their greens! So don't bother giving them random types of leaves because they will ignore most of them. Instead, make a note of where dandelions are growing wild near to you and harvest these plants very sparingly, so that they will continue to grow more leaves quickly. The best advice is to just take one leaf (the largest) from the plant and wait a couple of weeks before repeating the process. Having got home with your dandelion leaves, rinse these in cold tap water before giving them to your Giant African Land Snails. The purpose for rinsing the leaves is to remove any surface urine (from animals) that may be on the leaves. Also, please encourage dandelions to grow in your own garden and along the edges of any outdoor buildings such as a shed or garage.

How many feet should the ELC cage have?
Five. There is one black foot at each corner and also one central foot. The central foot keeps the cage floor level and so it is very important. Replacement ELC cage feet are available from Small-Life Supplies, so please get in touch if you need any.

I just read on the WE LOVE STICK INSECTS facebook page about somebody living in Cornwall finding a New Zealand stick insect in his bathroom! Do you know the circumstances of how this species has become naturalised in Cornwall? And is there any evidence of them heading further north in the UK?
Some New Zealand stick insects came over to the UK on cargo ships back in the early 1900s and have now become established in parts of Cornwall, because of the mild climate there. The two most common species are the Acanthoxyla prasina and the Acanthoxyla inermis. They are both usually bright green (although brown forms exist too) and eat bramble (blackberry) leaves, rose leaves and conifer leaves. Both species are parthenogenetic. An adult bright green female Acanthoxyla prasina is on the cover of the "Keeping Stick Insects" book by Dorothy Floyd. This species has small spikes on her body, whereas the Acanthoxyla inermis has a smooth body and is sometimes called the "unarmed stick insect". There is no evidence of New Zealand stick insects being found further north in the UK, this is not surprising because most of the UK continues to experience many freezing nights during autumn, winter and spring, and stick insects subjected to repeated sub-zero temperatures die because it is too cold for them to survive.

Professor, please can you explain how Julia, my female Macleays Spectre stick insect, is now able to lay eggs? Despite there being no male? She has been fully grown for three months and I wasn't expecting this! Will they hatch?
There are three reproduction methods employed by stick insects, the method depends on the species and also availability of males. The first method is "parthenogenesis", this is where 99.99% of the stick insects are females. They lay eggs and these hatch into 99.99% females. The popular Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) and the Pink Winged stick insect (Sipyloidea sipylus) are in this category. The very rare males that do occur, look and behave completely differently, and briefly mate with the females. The male stick insects are not capable of producing or laying eggs. The second method is "sexual reproduction" where males and females occur in equal numbers . The two genders look different and they mate regularly throughout their adult lives. Examples of the sexual species include: New Guinea stick insects (Eurycantha calcarata) and Thailand stick insects (Baculum thaii). After mating, the females lay eggs, the males cannot. The third method is "crisis parthenogenesis". This happens when a female stick insect from a sexual species, has no access to an adult male stick insect of the same species. So she cannot mate because there is no male. She needs to produce eggs and so her body switches to parthenogenesis, so she can still produce and lay eggs. This is what has happened to your Australian Macleays Spectre stick insect (Extatosoma tiaratum). For this species, usually adult males would be present, but unfortunately as Julia is on her own, she has no choice but to switch to parthenogenetic egg production. She has put this off for a couple of months in the hope that a male might have appeared, which is why she has only just started to lay eggs. Some of her eggs will hatch, but they will take longer than eggs produced by the standard mating method, so expect babies in approximately eight months instead of the usual six months.

I've spent an enjoyable afternoon reading through the Q and As on this page! We're the proud new owners of four Indian stick insects and their super home (ELC cage). I've noticed you mention on several answers that they eat Red Robin, which is great news for us because we have these in our garden! Are the stick insects fussy about what colour these leaves are? At the moment we have both the green and the red leaves available, not sure if the red leaves would be classed as "new growth" and be harmful?
Great to hear that you have started keeping stick insects and are looking after them properly by housing them in the ELC cage. The Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) that Small-Life Supplies send out are used to eating bramble (blackberry) leaves and so it's best to always have some bramble (blackberry) leaves in the ELC cage (keeping fresh in a Sprig Pot of water). But yes, you are correct, Indian stick insects will also eat some other types of leaves, including the Red Robin (Photinia sp). Indian stick insects prefer to eat the tender red leaves in preference to the older green leaves, and so please proceed and give them some of your red leaves. The concern about stick insects acquiring toxins from "new growth" only applies to the small pale bramble (blackberry) shoots, and so does not apply to red Photinia leaves.

I want some silkworms for my animal teaching placement. But I was told they must eat mulberry leaves and I have no clue where to find mulberry? Can you help?
There are different species of the silkmoth. The silkworms you refer to are the Chinese Bombyx mori species. Here at Small-Life Supplies we don't breed that species because of the problems acquiring fresh mulberry leaves, and also both the silkworms and silkmoths are rather inactive because they have been so intensively in-bred for so many generations. So I recommend another species, from India, which is called the Indian Eri silkmoth, Samia ricini. These silkworms (technically of course they're not worms but are caterpillars or larvae) eat privet leaves and so are much easier to feed! You can handle both the silkworms and the silkmoths, you can also take them out of the cage and let the adult Indian Eri silkmoths fly across a room. Small-Life Supplies breed Indian Eri silkmoths, and currently have cocoons in stock (these will emerge into the adult silkmoths within a couple of weeks).

This morning we have some Indian stick Indian hatchlings from the eggs we stored in the HAP. One little one still has the egg casing attached to his leg... Do we leave this until it naturally comes off?
Congratulations on your baby Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus)! If the eggshell is attached to the leg only, just leave it and it will come off by itself in due course. However, if the eggshell is covering the end of the abdomen, this is more serious because the stick insect will not be able to defecate (poo) and will die. So you can try to help by firmly holding the eggshell between your thumb and forefinger. You will feel the force of the insect as she pulls forward and tries to free herself. Most times this works and you are left with the empty eggshell. If you are not confident about doing this, another option is to place a prickly bramble stem in the HAP and let her try to free her eggshell herself by wedging it between the thorns. If she's only just hatched, she should have the energy to try and do this.

Where can I buy the "Keeping Stick Insects" book? I prefer not to purchase from Amazon.
The best-selling book "Keeping Stick Insects" can be purchased from Small-Life Supplies, by phoning 01733 203358 with your credit or debit card details. Or it can be ordered 24/7 from numonday.com (enter "Keeping Stick Insects" book into the search bar). Or, if you would like to pay with PayPal, please email Small-Life Supplies and ask for the PayPal invoice.

Two of the Vapourer caterpillars we bought from you emerged into moths yesterday! One was bigger than the other, is this normal? We let them fly off and we are excitedly checking on the other two cocoons. We'd like to do this again, do you sell refill packs?
It's great that your British Vapourer (Orgyia antiqua) caterpillar kit has been successful and you'd like to do this again. There is a lot of size variation amongst all three stages of caterpillar, pupa and moth. This variation occurs naturally and so is no cause for concern. And yes, the HAP containers can be re-used many times, and so Small-Life Supplies sell "Refills" comprising just the British Vapourer caterpillars.

Looking to mix different species of stick insect together, is this something you'd recommend or advise against? I've got an ELC cage and four Indian stick insects.
With your current set-up, you could add a couple of Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus) and/or four Thailand stick insects (Baculum thaii). All these stick insects do well in the ELC cage, live well together, and eat bramble (blackberry) leaves. However, if you are looking for a chunkier type of stick insect, for example the New Guinea stick insect (Eurycantha calcarata), you would need another ELC cage. This is because it's best not to house the chunky heavy stick insects with the more slender thinner species, because a slim delicate stick insect can be damaged if a chunky heavy stick insect walks over it!

Just seen several people recommend the ELC stick insect cage from Small-Life Supplies on a stick insect forum. How can I purchase on-line? I've got anxiety and so phoning is difficult.
Yes, the ELC cage is the best enclosure for stick insects. The ELC stick insect cage can be purchased on-line from our shop on numonday.com, here is the link: https://www.numonday.com/product/elc-stick-insect-cage-enclosure
Or, you can email Small-Life Supplies and request a PayPal invoice, just list the ELC and any other items you wish to purchase and your delivery postcode.

I caught my phasmid munching on the stalk of the bramble. She was swallowing it whole, spikes and all. She even severed it from the rest of the branch, causing the male on the branch below to come crashing down. She didn't stop there, she ate almost the entire thing! I'll upload a video so you can comment on this weird behaviour. As you can see, there's plenty of brambles in the enclosure with her, so why is she doing this? Should I be worried?
Sometimes stick insects eat the stalks of bramble (blackberry) when they are thirsty, so you could put a shallow Water Dish (filled with cold tap water) on the floor of the cage. Your video shows a nice green female Malaysian stick insect (Heteropteryx dilatata). If she already has access to a water dish, another reason for this behaviour is that she fancied a bit of variation in her diet. As well as eating the leaves, sometimes stick insects eat the petals on the bramble flowers and sometimes gnaw at the stems, as you have recorded.

Listening to Radio 4, I heard the Woodland Trust guy promoting a new policy of planting trees across urban areas of the UK, densely in small pockets, approximately tennis court size. This already happens in Japan. Interesting, I thought, what do you think?
Yes, I think it's a great idea. It works in Japan and so should be successful in the UK too. It's called the Mayawaki method. One problem of planting spaced out trees is that vandals (of all ages) can easily snap the trunks and kill the trees. This has happened at a recent housing development near to me, and unfortunately the damaged saplings are not replaced. Trees that are densely planted are less attractive targets for vandals. And it should be relatively easy to find lots of urban areas the size of a tennis court that could be used for dense tree planting. It is essentially the tree version of the "metre square project" which is so successful for promoting insects and plants. The metre square project involves leaving tiny pockets of land that are only 1metre x 1 metre completely alone and see what grows there naturally. The first year or so it may not look particularly interesting, but definitely after year 3 the area will be full of life and biodiversity.

OK, so I need more ELC enclosures, have you any deals on cut-price ones at the minute?
Our used ELC stick insect cages sell out really quickly, so to hear about the availability of used ELC cages, please check the Small-Life Supplies Facebook page, or phone Small-Life Supplies (between 9am and 5pm weekdays) on 01733 203358. The used ELC cages are in very good condition, cleaned, dispatched ready assembled, and 25% cheaper than the new ones.

Thank you greatly for your reply earlier. Despite the terrible prognosis, which I half-suspected, being a Physiotherapist myself, our Sticky is alive. He shows much more energy, I am attaching a short video for you. He has been seen moving all his limbs. Every morning we leave him in the position best suited to his feeding propped up and in the morning usually find him in a different position. I will keep on keeping on and feeding him the mush from mimosa and eucalyptus leaves. He is able to chew on the small leaves now, not just the mush. Are there any powders I could add to enhance his energy levels? (I am thinking the likes of creatinine which humans use for increasing energy and stamina)? Vitamins perhaps? Should I leave him in direct sunshine? We do get some warm sunny days, despite it being winter at the moment. Would a tiny water “bowl” help?
Sticky needs to eat more of the eucalyptus leaves to build up his strength, so you need to arrange the leaves in such a way that he can eat them without too much effort. Indirect sunshine is good for this species, but be careful not to place him in full sun otherwise he will overheat and die. You could provide a shallow water dish to give him the option for a drink if he wants one. However the Australian species of stick insect generally don't require extra water to drink, because they gain enough moisture form the eucalyptus leaves they eat. I would advise against trying to boost his energy levels with supplements. This is because he needs to build up his strength gradually. So instead, wait to see what happens in the next week or so. Unfortunately Sticky is deformed and although he is showing initial signs of improvement, this may not continue. His next skin-change (ecdysis) will be a challenge, although fortunately his front legs are OK which will help him a lot in this endeavour.

Can the waste poop from stick insects be repurposed? (This question came up during a break in a work's meeting about the climate crisis and global boiling.)
Yes, the frass (poop) from stick insects contains nitrogen and so can be used as a fertiliser for potted plants. Every week when you replace the Liner in the ELC cage, just tip the contents into a bowl. Take out the eggs you wish to save and pour boiling water over the rest of the mixture. Leave to cool and store in a safe place for a week, this allows plenty of time for a lot of the frass to dissolve. After a week, stir well with an old spoon and pour the entire mixture over your potted plants. We have been doing this for years and know that it works! You don't have to worry about any eggs that are in there because the hot water is 100% effective at stopping their development.

I was out walking with my young son and he spotted one ladybird piggybacking on another one. We have seen this activity with our Thailand stick insects too, so I said they were "making babies", is this correct?
Yes, a male ladybird climbs on top of a female ladybird to mate. Stick insect species that have both genders also mate in this way. The male stick insect is smaller than the female and looks completely different, this is called "sexual dimorphism". If mating is successful, you can sometimes see the sac of sperm (called a spermatophore) attached to the outside of the female stick insect's abdomen tip. Mating occurs every few weeks to ensure that the female has a good supply of fresh sperm to fertilise her eggs. Female stick insects usually lay eggs every day for approximately seven months. However, some of the larger species such as the New Guinea stick insect (Eurycantha calcarata) and the Malaysian stick insect (Heteropteryx dilatata) are longer lived and so the females can be laying eggs for a couple of years!

My sticky is of the Australian/Sydney variety. It has shed it's skin recently, grew two front limbs and seemed to be stuck in the skin. I gently separated him from the exo-skeleton with a tissue and threw it away. He became very soft and lethargic and stopped eating. It’s been approximately a week now. The front 1/3 is very curved (kyphosed) and trying to straighten it is almost impossible. I took the fresh eucalyptus leaves and mimosa leaves and shredded them in a blender with some water and fed him this mass yesterday. The best attempt was at night. He visibly ate a little but he’s limp again What can I do to help him? He’s very thin and fragile.
Thank you for emailing me photos of your stick insect, he is in a sorry state with a missing middle leg, damaged back legs, and a curved body which is limp. Unfortunately sometimes a stick insect messes up a skin-change (ecdysis). Often such individuals refuse to eat and die within a few days. Your stick insect will have gained some nourishment from your blended food, but unless he consumes a lot more soon he is unlikely to regain the strength to live. I would let him rest horizontally with his mouth in your blended food and leave him like that so he can eat again if he wants to. But the prognosis is not good.

So excited, we're going to get your Family Pack caterpillars! We have kept the cylinder net enclosure we raised some other butterflies in, would this be suitable for these ones too?
Please keep the British Vapourer (Orgyia antiqua) caterpillars in the HAP supplied as part of the Family Pack. The HAP is the best enclosure for housing these caterpillars because it provides the optimum ventilation conditions for both the caterpillars and the fresh cut bramble leaf. And once the caterpillars have metamorphosed into pupae and then into adult moths, they should be released outside. The adult male moths will walk on your fingers so you can see them up close. So your net enclosure is not suitable for this project.

Is it possible to delay the hatching of Indian stick insect eggs? Say in a fridge for instance? For up to a year or so. Instead of destroying surplus eggs is it possible to store them but with no danger of them hatching? My guess is no but would like to ask a professional first.
Putting insect eggs in a fridge (typical temperature 5 degrees Celsius) works well with butterfly and moth eggs where hatching needs to be delayed until their natural foodplant is available in the Spring. But that action mimics the cold weather experienced in the UK during winter. In general, cold delays development, so storing stick insect eggs in the fridge is likely to arrest development. However, storing stick insect eggs in the fridge for a year is a very long time and probably too long for development to resume when the ambient temperature is increased. At this time of year garden birds, such as blackbirds, have hungry chicks to feed and so you can help them by giving them your surplus Indian stick insect eggs (Carausius morosus) to eat. Just place the eggs on a white plate or saucer on the bird table. It may take the birds a few days to learn they are palatable, but once they have realised this they will soon be back for more! They will only eat dry eggs, so drain off any water if it has been raining.

Looking to expand our creepy crawly collection! Millipedes or cockroaches or snails? We're a family of five living in Hove and we get nature!
Great to hear that you all like nature and want to look after more creatures indoors. I recommend Giant African Land Snails (Achatina fulica), these are easy to care for, eating fresh vegetables and dandelion leaves. You can purchase young Giant African Land Snails from Small-Life Supplies, together with the special cage and thick Liners. I don't recommend keeping millipedes or cockroaches as family pets because both these creatures eat dead and decaying leaves which can cause health issues in people. This is because dead leaves smell musty and develop fungal spores which become airborne and can be inhaled by people, leading to lung and coughing issues. Long term exposure makes the problem worse and so these creatures are not suitable to be kept in childrens' bedrooms.

It's summer, so do I still have to cut off the new growth leaves on the bramble?
Yes, because this will make the larger leaves last longer in the Sprig Pot of water. If you don't cut off the new growth, the larger leaves (which are favoured by the stick insects) will wilt quicker because the stem is directing it's nutrients to the new growth causing those leaves to grow. However, it is better for the stick insects to eat the larger leaves (these are uniform green in colour) and so you want those leaves to last as long as possible in the cage.

What to do about this bent ovipositor? Does it hurt? Will it affect her egg laying?
Thank you for emailing me a photo of your female Malaysian stick insect (Heteropteryx dilatata). I can see has a bent ovipositor, there is nothing you can do to straighten it. However it will not cause her pain and she will still be able to dig a hole in the sterilised dry sand and lay eggs. She will also manage to flick sand over the buried eggs to cover them, although this may not be as neatly done as a female who has an undamaged ovipositor (which is shaped like a narrow spade).

Hoorah - a stick insect on Peppa Pig! Just watched the pet stick insect, called Stephen, in a tank on a bare branch, taken on a creepy crawly safari. They found a ladybird, a millipede and a grasshopper. Stephen escaped and the characters picked up various twigs asking if this was Stephen. Lots of 3 year olds have received lots of bad education, what do you think? The episode is season 7, episode 13 and I just saw it on Channel 5.
In the UK, many nursery schools have pet stick insects and so lots of young children already know that stick insects eat leaves and move around. It's unfortunate that the small squat tank had no food in at all and that Steven was by himself (stick insects like company of their own kind). The most popular stick insect is the Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) and 99.99% of these are female, so the pet stick insect should have had a girl's name. The narrator said that a millipede is an insect which is wrong. Insects have six legs, and milllipedes have a lot more than that, which is why they are classified as being myriapods and not insects. On the positive side, Steven the stick insect has been featured in other episodes and so it is good that the profile of pet stick insects is being raised in a popular children's TV programme.

I had Indian stick insects as a child (over forty years ago!) and now want to get some for my boy. I fed mine with privet and I kept the eggs in the airing cupboard. Has the care advice changed since then? I'll be purchasing the ELC cage and stick insects from Small-Life Supplies.
In the UK, for decades the staple food of pet Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) was privet leaves (Ligustrum vulgare). But all that changed about twenty years ago when lots of Indian stick insects (nationwide) stopped eating privet! This also happened to the stocks at Small-Life Supplies, and so we offered these hunger striking stick insects bramble (blackberry) leaves instead, which they ate with relish! Over subsequent years, the main food for our Indian stick insects is bramble (blackberry) leaves, but these stick insects can supplement their diet by eating hazel leaves, eucalyptus leaves and Red Robin (Photinia) leaves and rose leaves. When offered privet leaves now, some of our Indian stick insects will try it, but the vast majority ignore it. So that is why we no longer suggest privet as a food source for Indian stick insects. Regarding incubating Indian stick insect eggs, there is no need to use an airing cupboard, in fact this is detrimental because the warmer temperature speeds up the development of the eggs, which can lead to less healthy baby stick insects. So, it is better to be patient and store the eggs in the HAP at normal room temperature. Just leave them alone and you will see the hatchling stick insects approximately four months after the eggs have been laid.

My teacher said that populations of different sorts of insect fluctuate year by year, according to the climatic conditions, so one year could be great for one type of insect but really bad for another sort. Our homework is to research insects that are doing well in the UK at the moment, benefitting from the drought conditions and excessively hot temperatures that we've experienced so far this year. I am looking to you for guidance on this topic!
Your teacher is correct in what they have explained and it is great that you have a knowledgeable teacher who is encouraging his/her students to find out more about insects. Sightings of the the Holly Blue butterfly (Celastrina argiolus) were very numerous last month , so this is one example of a British butterfly that has benefitted from the climatic conditions earlier this year. And this month, there are far more Small Skipper butterflies (Thymelicus sylvestris) than in previous years.

Came back with some stick insects from the school summer fete at the weekend, so I now need to get them a suitable home! These weren't planned, but they deserve the right environment and my daughter likes them, so please let me know if you have any special offers on your ELC cages at the moment as our finances are stretched!
Great that you want to look after your new stick insects properly. If you'd like to email us a photo we can tell you what type of stick insects you have, so can advise further on their care. And yes, there is a lightly used ELC cage for sale at the moment, this is freshly cleaned and is 25% cheaper than the price of a new one. It is dispatched in the same bespoke packaging that we dispatch the new ELC cages, so you can rest assured that it will be safely delivered. The used ELC cages always sell out really quickly, so please phone 01733 203358 between 9am and 6pm weekdays if you'd like to purchase this item.

My question is about how best to wash the ELC cage? I have saved the special sponge and know about using cold or tepid water. My ELC cage is home to two New Guinea stick insects, they're coming up to be 3 years old, and is in need of a clean.
Congratulations on looking after your New Guinea stick insects (Eurycantha calcarata) for so long, they will be nearing the end of their lives soon, but hopefully you have saved some eggs to hatch out the next generation. It's best to wipe down the panels with the Cleaning Sponge soaked in lukewarm water and squeezed to remove surplus water. Stubborn stains can be removed easily with a dollop of bleach. Rinse by wiping down the panels with the sponge soaked in clean cold water (squeeze out the excess water first). Dry the cage with a soft cotton tea towel. The reason why cold or lukewarm is so important is because hot water will permanently distort the plastic panels. Stick insects are clean creatures but can exude brown liquid from their mouths and this happens more as the stick insects get old.

Would Thailand stick insects eat hazel leaves, do you think?
Yes, Thailand stick insects (Baculum thaii) eat hazel leaves. Here at Small-Life Supplies we insert Sprig Pots of fresh bramble leaves and fresh hazel leaves in to the ELC cages with Thailand stick insects and they eat them both.

I've just joined a Facebook group about nature in my local area. It is delightful seeing so many wonderful photos of insects that people are now noticing, many of them being converted to nature following "no mow May". And lots of people asking for ID of insects, many daft suggestions, but goodwill on the most part, although so many people speak of larvae when they mean larva. I can't be doing with Facebook forums full of nonsense and preaching by pseudo types!
I agree there is currently a groundswell of public opinion towards nature and the environment. A combination of factors, including environmental education in schools, the climate crisis, people going for more walks locally and indeed "no mow May" are all helping with this. About time too! And yes, sadly some Facebook forums can become most unpleasant with certain people spouting forth continuously. Sadly we have even had adults, very upset after someone has been rubbishing them on a Facebook stick insect forum, phoning Small-Life Supplies for stick insect advice and reassurance. Small-Life Supplies is keen to provide quality helpful stick insect advice over the phone and always does so in a courteous manner. And of course you can rest assured that after 38 years of being in business breeding stick insects and designing and manufacturing insect cages, the advice is worth listening too.

Reading the 17 June 2023 issue of "New Scientist" magazine, I see on page 12 a small feature on leg loss in Forsteropsalis pureora. The author refers to Harvestmen and Daddy long legs, so I had to google the species to find out what animal the article was about! It is in fact an arachnid, with eight legs. I am resident in the UK and know that Daddy long legs are six-legged insects. Might I suggest that you contact this publication and notify them about this error?
Thank you for the heads-up. And yes, you are correct, in the UK, the term "Daddy long legs" refers to a particular winged insect, called a crane-fly. Belonging to the family Tipulidae, it is also known as a Tipulid. Many people are familiar with these insects because their larvae live underground, often under lawns, and are known to gardeners as "leather jackets". The winged adults have a clumsy flight and often skim across ceilings and floors indoors, bumping into objects and losing legs. In the UK we also have native eight-legged Harvestmen opiliones. These harmless creatures are arachnids, but cannot spin webs or produce venom and so are not spiders, instead they are classified as opiliones. They have small bodies and very long legs and are very common. A quick look at the author of the article you refer to reveals that he is from the USA and so this explains the confusion, because in the USA the phrase "Daddy long legs" is used for the harvestmen opilione (and not for the tipulid/crane-fly). However, it is disappointing that the author doesn't seem to be aware of that fact, and also fails to mention the word opilione at all!

Someone recommended the ECL cage, is this the same as the ELC cage?
The ELC stick insect cage is the best cage for stick insects. The person has jumbled the letters by mistake, there is no ECL cage, it is the ELC cage. The reason why the ELC cage has been so popular for the last eleven years it has been manufactured in the UK is because it has been specially designed for the well-being of stick insects (being tall 51cm high and has two full ventilated sides for air-flow). It also benefits the stick insect owner (easy to clean out, easy to see the stick insects through the crystal clear panels, lightweight plastic construction instead of heavy glass, and of course dispatched ready built so no time consuming assembly to perform.

Is is safe for stick insects to eat the flowers on the ends of the bramble stems or should I remove them? I have twelve Indian stick insects, four adults and eight younger ones.
All stick insects including the popular Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) can eat the petals on the flowers of bramble. These petals can be white or pink, but both are safe for stick insects to eat. The main nutrients come from the actual bramble leaves, but it's quite common to see a stick insect eating parts of the flowers too, when they are seasonally available. So leave the flowers on the cut stems.

We have two thorny stick insects, which we have had for around 6 months. We bought them from a local aquarium and reptile shop and bought an enclosure with their advice. They have been quite happy, eating well, and have shed at least twice since January. This past week they have been behaving very strangely. Their appetites have increased in the past few weeks, but behaviour much the same, limited movement until the evenings. This week both the male and female have been active, crawling around the cage all day. The female in particular has been very high up and waving her front legs about almost constantly. We thought they were going to shed but nothing has happened. Tonight the male was lying on his back and seemed unable to right himself. We righted him but he seemed to have lost control of two of his legs, and they were tucked underneath him. We’ve had them out on the kitchen table for a few hours and they’ve calmed down a lot, and regained control of their limbs. Could it be they were too hot?
Thanks for emailing the photos of these two stick insects. I can see they are young adult New Guinea stick insects (Eurycantha calcarata). They won't shed their skins again because they are already fully grown. Constant activity in this species is a classic symptom of being severely dehydrated, so it is essential you give them water to drink urgently. You should take the stick insects out of the cage and let them drink from saucers of cold tap water placed on a table. New Guinea stick insects are unusual because they do need much more water to drink than other species of stick insect, so there should always be an open dish of water available to them in the cage. Increased indoor temperatures due to sunny hot weather will have made them even more thirsty. Unfortunately as they have been in distress for a week, it may be too late to save them, but fingers crossed they recover after having a good long drink of water (an hour or more). It's also recommended to house New Guinea stick insects in the ELC cage which has two full ventilated sides because this natural airflow means the ELC cage remains a lot cooler than stuffy glass tanks with solid sides.

I have recently embraced the hobby of rearing larvae, and am currently having much success with rearing the Black Arches caterpillars, Lymantria monarcha. Zero losses so far! My question is about the sticky oak leaves I am now encountering. They stick to my fingers and I have to wash my hands afterwards. Are oak leaves normally sticky at this time of year? I have tried to rinse them but the residue is hard to remove. I've looked underneath, it's not aphids.
There is a problem in some parts of the UK at the moment with a lack of rainfall. Here in Cambridgeshire it has not rained properly for weeks. This has resulted in sap from many trees including oak and hazel not being washed off. This means the leaves look shiny and are very sticky to the human touch. Fortunately the insects are able to cope with this and so the Black Arches caterpillars can still walk across and eat the sticky oak leaves. So just continue to feed your caterpillars with the sticky oak leaves and wash your hands afterwards to clean the residue off your fingers.

Help! I have left an open tub of Thailand stick insect eggs in my room and this morning I counted ten on the ceiling! They must have hatched overnight. They're so tiny, will they be exhausted, they've had nothing to eat? And how do I get them down safely?
Thailand stick insect eggs (Baculum thaii) incubate much more quickly than most other species of stick insect, so their eggs can start hatching four to eight weeks after being laid (hotter temperatures accelerate the process). I suggest you use a step ladder and carefully move each one into a dish, using the bristles of a small paintbrush. You can encourage them to walk by gently blowing on the stick insects. Baby stick insects are thirsty so when you have gathered them all up, tip them from the dish over wet bramble leaves (stood in the Sprig Pot of cold tap water) in the ELC cage. Once they've had a drink and a nibble of bramble, your Thailand stick insects will recover quickly. And of course, place your open tub with the remaining eggs on the Liner in the ELC cage so new hatchlings can walk onto the bramble straight away.

I've started working at a new primary school and it's fab that they have class stick insects! They look good and are well cared for but there is only ivy in there (they are Indian stick insects). Apparently that's what they've always had. Please can you tell me if I should interfere and give them bramble or just continue with ivy? It's really easy to get ivy because it's growing up the school fencing.
Thank you for emailing me a photo of your school stick insects, I can see they look healthy and are a mixture of ages of Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus). This population of stick insects is thriving and so I recommend you continue to feed them with the fresh ivy leaves as the previous person was doing. Usually, if given the choice, Indian stick insects prefer to eat bramble (blackberry) leaves, but in circumstances where many generations of Indian stick insects have solely been eating ivy leaves, then it's not wise to try to change their habits. There are different sorts of ivy, but clearly your school ivy is good quality, evergreen and easy for you to harvest, so stick with that.

Have you seen the online confusion regarding a T shirt featuring a day flying silkmoth on a background with phases of the moon? Embarassing or what!
Yes, it is most unfortunate that a British charity promoting Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) has done this. And the accompanying description is poor too, making no mention of the fact that the British Emperor moth (Saturnia pavonia) is the UK's only silkmoth! And yes, of course this is a colourful large moth that flies around during the day, so there is absolutely no connection with the phases of the moon.

As Indian stick insects originated from India, surely they'd be able to cope with high temperatures? My room is 30 degrees but both of my Indian stick insects have gone floppy and died today. They were only seven months old and I can't think of anything else that's changed, apart from the very hot weather in Cambridge today?
Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) did originate from India, but the stock sold as pets today has been reared in captivity in the UK for over one hundred years! So the stick insects you buy as pets have been acclimatised to much cooler indoor UK temperatures, which means the stick insects are used to a daytime temperature of 18-21 degrees Celsius. So these Indian stick insects do not fare well at higher temperatures and can overheat and die, as you have experienced. Always move the cage containing Indian stick insects to a shady cooler place if the room you usually keep them in is heating up rapidly due to very hot sunny weather. It's best to take action as soon as the temperature in the room looks likely to exceed 25 degrees Celsius.

We would like to add Thailand stick insects but for now we would like to keep just the one ELC cage that we have. If our other four Indian stick insects hatch, there would be ten Indian stick insects and two Pink Winged ones in that cage. How many Thailand stick insects would you recommend? Are they all happy with bramble?
There would be room to add four Thailand stick insects (Baculum thaii). Unlike the Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) and Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus) that are parthenogenetic (99.99% female), the Thailand stick insects (Baculum thaii) have equal numbers of males and females. Small-Life Supplies supply Thailand stick insects in packs of four (two pairs). Nymphs are supplied so you can enjoy watching them grow and develop into adults over the coming months. All these three species live well together in the ELC cage and yes, they all eat bramble (blackberry) leaves.

What colour is stick insects' blood? And if a stick insect cuts herself, does a scab form?
Stick insects have green blood. If a stick insect cuts itself on a bramble thorn (this is very rare), a small amount of green blood is released. This soon dries and hardens to cover the wound, and looks dark green. It is not a scab as such because it remains there and does not drop off like it does for a human. It can be washed off with water a few weeks later.

We have Indian stick insects but the room they are in is approximately 16 degrees Celsius overnight, which is obviously warmer than the 12 degrees Celsius stated on your stick insect care leaflet. Is this going to be a problem? Fortunately the temperature during the day is ideal, at 20 degrees Celsius, the room is north facing so never gets too hot.
With Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) it is the maximum daytime temperature which is the most critical, so it's great that the room where you have your stick insects is the ideal temperature during the day. Indian stick insects can start to suffer when the daytime temperature exceeds 28 degrees Celsius, so this is why the ELC cage of Indian stick insects should never be kept in a hot sunny room. Your house must be very well insulated if it's not dropping below 16 degrees Celsius at night. Your Indian stick insects will be fine at this night time temperature. The recommendation of a slightly lower temperature is aimed at people who have to set their heating to come on at night. Obviously to reduce heating bills, we recommend a minimum temperature that will not adversely affect the welfare of the stick insects. So slightly higher temperatures than this at night are still OK for Indian stick insects, although you will find that in these conditions your stick insects will grow faster and eat a bit more.

What is the collective noun for stick insects?
Population. So it's a population of stick insects.

We're loving our Indian stick insects and Pink Winged stick insects, and are now researching the possible option of adding Thailand stick insects to our menagerie! We'll be getting another ELC cage for these ones, if we decide to proceed. We realise Thailand stick insects are not parthenogenetic, but have seen conflicting advice online, so please can you clarify a couple of points for us? My son, Toby, would like to know if the boys live as long as the girls, or do they die off sooner? And my older daughter Mollie asks how long the mating process lasts (she timed her Vapourer moths mating for nineteen minutes).
It's great that you are all enjoying keeping Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) and Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus). Thailand stick insects (Baculum thaii) are another easy to keep species, which thrive in the ELC cage and eat bramble (blackberry) leaves. To answer Toby's question, the males live as long as the females. Both genders of Thailand stick insects darken as the adults age, and so very old adults are darker than younger adults. Mollie sounds like a potential scientist because she is already observing and recording her insects' behaviour. And yes, mating for approximately twenty minutes is standard behaviour for the British Vapourer moth (Orgygia antiqua), this occurs in the daytime, typically late afternoon and so is easy to record. Thailand stick insects (Baculum thaii) mate regularly throughout their adults lives, but often during the night, so recording the duration is more difficult. However, like many other species of stick insect that mate, the mating process lasts continuously for several hours.

My school needs some new stick insect cages and I've been tasked with sorting this because I'm known for driving a hard bargain! I am sure you know that school budgets are still very stretched, please let me know if you offer any discounts for schools? We have been recommended to purchase the ELC stick insect cages.
The best bargain available at the moment is to purchase some "lightly used" ELC cages direct from Small-Life Supplies. These cages are typically 25% cheaper than the list price of a new one. Or, we sometimes have some that are 30% cheaper than the list price of a new one (these cages have a few more marks on them). Small-Life Supplies is VAT registered, so if you ask for the VAT receipt, your school should be able to reclaim another 20% of the price back in VAT from the government. All our lightly used ELC cages are checked and cleaned. They are dispatched in the same bespoke strong packaging as the new ones so you can rest assured they will be delivered safely. To check availability, please phone Small-Life Supplies on 01733 203358.

Why don't radio presenters do a bit more research before interviewing people about insects? I was disappointed to hear on Radio 4 both presenters showing their ignorance in thinking that all moths in the UK are "clothes moths"! The guest did her best but missed the opportunity to spell it out that the vast majority of caterpillars become moths, not butterflies. There are loads of British moths: hawkmoths, silkmoths, prominent moths, tussock moths, owlet moths, eggar moths, lackey moths, tiger moths, geometer moths, carpet moths, cossid moths, burnet moths, plume moths, pyralid moths...the list goes on!
Yes, I share your frustration, nature coverage is limited on BBC radio and so it is depressing when misleading statements aren't corrected at the time and false information is broadcast. Too many people think moths are synonymous with clothes moths, when of course a clothes moth is just one type of moth. The different types of moths you list are classified as "families" of moths, each family having a Latin name. For example, the "Owlets" belong to the family Noctuidae, and within that family there are approximately 400 different species in the UK. One common species is the Large Yellow Underwing, Noctua pronuba, which is 3cm long and has two yellow hindwings.

In the "Keeping Stick Insects" book I read that the bramble leaves can injure the Pink Winged stick insects' wings with their thorns (when they're adults and have wings). They also eat eucalyptus, but can they eat thornless bramble? Or is it sufficient to keep the bramble quite low in the cage?
It's best to put just a couple of sprigs of standard bramble (with thorns) in the ELC cage. This will be OK for the Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus) when they have their wings. It is only when multiple Sprig Pots of bramble are stuffed into the cage that it poses a problem to the Pink Winged stick insects. This is because the Pink Winged adults sometimes like to open and close their wings in the cage and if the cage is full of bramble, there is a risk a wing may be snagged on a bramble thorn. The Pink Winged stick insects fly outside of the cage, across the room, once a week. Thornless bramble isn't as nutritious as the standard thorned types, so is not recommended. Eucalyptus is a supplement food, not a substitute for bramble.

I read in volume 9 of "Moths of GB and Ireland" that Vapourer moths (Orgyia antiqua) have two or more broods a year, yet L.Hugh Newman says one brood. I would be interested to know of your experience on rearing Vapourer over the years.
Small-Life Supplies has been breeding British Vapourer moths (Orgyia antiqua) for decades and so can categorically state that there are several broods (generations) every year. The largest population is the first one of the year, in Spring. The British Vapourer moths are particularly interesting because the males have wings and can fly well, but the females have no wings. The female still has legs and so climbs onto her empty cocoon (protecting the empty pupal case) and emits pheromones into the air. These chemicals are detected by the antennae of a male in the area who then flies to her and mates before flying off again. The female spends the next few hours neatly gluing her eggs side by side, usually around her empty cocoon.

I picked up Thea, my Indian stick insect, yesterday, and some brown liquid came out of her mouth! Was she sick? She seems OK today but I thought I'd ask the stick insect guru for reassurance!
Yes, Thea will be fine. Both nymphs and adult Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) can exude a brown liquid from their mouths when they are startled, it is a defensive behaviour. When keeping stick insects as pets, they learn to recognise you and so you don't normally see this defensive behaviour. So I think you must have unintentionally startled Thea which is why she reacted like this.

I enjoyed listening to Matt Frei interviewing Stephen Barnes (vice chair of British Bee Keepers Association) on LBC radio last Saturday, I recommend your followers listen to this on catch up. It was refreshing to hear a straight talking person explaining how clever bees are, even pacing out potential suitable nesting areas to check they're big enough!
Thanks for the recommendation, I am happy to oblige. And yes, I agree, far too many scientists waffle on, instead of clearly putting across the wonders of nature. Stephen Barnes practices what he preaches, so partakes in "no mow May" and encourages others to plant native plants and wild areas in their gardens to encourage bees and other insects and wildlife.
How big should a stick insect enclosure be?
A stick insect cage needs to be TALL, at least 48cm, 18" high, so that the stick insects have plenty of room to grow properly. Stick insects grow by sliding vertically downwards out of their old skins and so need lots of height in the cage to be able to do this properly. Stick insects housed in squat containers become deformed because they don't have enough room to stretch their bodies out during the skin-changing process (called ecdysis). The ELC cage is a purpose-designed stick insect cage which is 51cm, 20" high. The ELC stick insect cage also has two full mesh sides which provide the through-draught ventilation that most stick insects need to thrive in captivity.

How long can I leave my Indian stick insects for? I'm concerned about their need for water?
An ELC cage containing Indian stick insects can easily be left for a week, or at most, ten days. Before you depart, put in double the quantity of food and move the cage to the coolest part of your home. This is because the stick insects will notice your absence and become stressed, causing them to eat more. Cooler surroundings result in the stick insects eating less, hence the need to relocate the cage temporarily. It also helps to prepare the stick insects for the change in circumstances. So in addition to the providing double the food quantity for when you are away, it's also essential to do this in the week preceding your trip too. Don't be too concerned about the water requirement, this is because eating the bramble leaves provides most of the water the Indian stick insects need, and the misting of the leaves is a welcome extra but it is not critical that the leaves be misted daily. Indeed, stick insects kept in schools go without misted leaves over the weekend and they are fine. Your stick insects can manage a week to ten days without water being sprayed onto the leaves. The priority is that they have enough food and don't panic, which is why you need to follow the steps outlined above.

Sorry this isn't an insect question but a spider one! Underneath my doorstep outside is a tight ball of baby spiders (approximately the size of 1p coin) and when they are disturbed they rapidly disperse before clustering back together again. I attach a photo. I can see they are baby spiders, but do you know what type? They have yellow markings, and I don't recall seeing any big spiders looking like that?
Thanks for the photo, I currently have two of these in my garden, one on the wheelie bin and another on a large wooden spool. Their behaviour is interesting and lots of people are noticing it this year as the general interest in the natural world continues to grow. The unremarkable common name of this British spider is the "garden spider" and it's Latin species name is Araneus diadematus. The yellow markings on the baby spiders disappear as the spiders grow, which is why the adults do not look like the babies.

Thank you for explaining about "no mow May", I did wonder why so many front gardens haven't been mowed yet! Isn't it a great idea? It brightens up my daily walk with my young grandson, now for the first time in his life he is seeing so many daisies and dandelions he will be able to recognise them in the future. Sadly we live in a small flat with no garden, but I am so thankful to those who do have front gardens and who are letting them grow wild for the benefit of nature.
Yes, the "no mow May" initiative is a great success in many areas of the UK. Locally to me, many people have embraced the scheme, and the contrast between a front garden teeming with nature versus a short lawn or even worse a plastic lawn or paved/gravelled area couldn't be more stark. It is so encouraging that more people are now understanding that we have to encourage nature in our gardens, so that means native plants, insects, birds etc. More people are also realising that the "no mow May" can be extended to other months as well, some people switching to a twice yearly mow, which is fantastic for nature!

What do you put at the bottom of a stick insect tank?
Plain paper is best. This makes it easy to spot the eggs and separate them from the frass (droppings/poo). And paper does not dry up the surroundings like absorbent kitchen roll /towel can. Using pre-cut ELC Liners are very convenient, or you can cut up sheets of copier paper with scissors. It's best to replace the cage Liner once a week to ensure that the stick insects are kept in clean surroundings.

I heard something about a plan for helping nature in the UK, but I can't remember what it's called? I know you're up to speed with environmental campaigns, so I'm sure you can tell me more!
Yes, it's a new British initiative, called the "People's Plan for Nature". Everyone in the UK is encouraged to get involved to support nature, more details are here: https://peoplesplanfornature.org. Their detailed report was published earlier this year and this can be downloaded from the website. To keep the momentum going, if you support the slogan "love nature, act now", you can sign up to receive regular updates (you can unsubscribe at any time). For far too long, people interested in nature have been too slow or reticent to act, but now we are in the midst of a climate crisis, it is essential that we do all we can to protect and promote the existing nature and green spaces we have left in the UK. This plan helps to direct people on what to do to protect and restore nature.

Please can you explain the hatching process of an Indian stick insect?
When the egg is ready to hatch, the baby stick insect (called a first instar nymph) pushes off the lid (this is called the operculum) of the eggshell with her head. She quickly wriggles to pull her thorax and abdomen out (within seconds) and then pulls her front legs out, followed by her middle legs and finally back legs. The whole process only takes a minute or two. The stick insect then inflates her thorax and abdomen, so her body extends in length. The legs are already their correct size and so do not expand.

Is there any reason why my current generation of New Guinea stick insects are smaller this year than last year? I'm fairly new to keeping this species, and only have two stick insects but am enjoying their different characters very much, but am concerned that they are getting smaller? It's puzzling because nothing has changed, they are in the ELC cage and have a good supply of bramble leaves to eat and water to drink?
There is no need to be concerned, this is normal to see with this species. Here at Small-Life Supplies, we routinely see lots of size variation amongst New Guinea stick insects (Eurycantha calcarata), even between siblings reared together in the same cage! So although this generation of your New Guinea stick insects are smaller than the last, the next generation may be huge. One advantage of the smaller adults of New Guinea stick insects is that they usually have longer life spans than the larger ones.

Where's the best place to get stick insects?
Small-Life Supplies has an excellent reputation for delivering healthy stick insects nationwide, together with the best enclosures. And, unlike fly-by-night outfits, Small-Life Supplies is a reputable long established business, with a 38 year trading history! Free advice is given on which type of stick insects would be best for you and live arrival is guaranteed.

Is this bramble safe for our stick insects to eat, or is it still too new? Photo attached.
Your photo shows this year's growth of bramble with some tiny new leaves and some larger new leaves. I can see that the larger of these leaves are safe for the stick insects to eat, even though they are this year's growth. This is because these leaves have passed the threshold of 3cm length. Each leaf is divided into three parts, so all you need to do is to take a ruler and measure the length of one of these three parts. If it is 3cm or longer, it is safe to be consumed by a stick insect.

What is no mow May, is it an environment idea?
Yes, everyone in the UK who has a lawn (or small area of grass) is being asked not to mow it at all (ideally) or at least only mow only a very small section during the month of May. This is because this simple act will benefit the native insects enormously because May is a critical time for them to breed and emerge from hibernation. The problem with mowing garden grass in May is that loads of insects are killed in the process. This initiative occurred last year with great success, and so hopefully it will be even more popular this year. And of course this is also encouraging more people to make the switch to have a more natural looking garden permanently. It is far more enjoyable to look at British plants and wild flowers teeming with insects instead of a lifeless manicured lawn. I have been doing this for decades and am pleased that this movement is still gathering momentum, it is especially important now to help nature during this climate crisis.

Uni biology student here! A question about Indian stick insect genders and reproductive behaviour. I know the vast majority are female, some really rare males exist, also some gynandromorphs (females with partial male genitalia). I assume the males attempt to mate with the females, but do the gynandromorphs ever try to mate with the females?
At Small-life Supplies, we breed large numbers of Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) and have encountered all three versions that you describe. You are correct in stating that the vast majority are female and these stick insects lay eggs without mating, the vast majority hatching out into more females, this process is called parthenogenesis. Very rarely, about 1 in every 10000, a male occurs, he looks completely different and is very active. The males like to mate at night, and do so in a similar manner to species of stick insects which have males and females in equal numbers. The reported occurrence of gynandromorph Indian stick insects is increasing, probably due to unscrupulous people getting shot of their surplus stick insects, regardless of their health. This is unfortunate because the gynandromorph Indian stick insects are in poor health and do not live as long as either the healthy females or the healthy rare males. The gynandromorphs don't have fully developed male genitalia, so these green genitalia are permanently on display and don't work properly, so no, these individuals don't even attempt to mate. Some gynandromorphs can lay a few eggs, but only ten eggs or so, well below the usual 500 eggs that a healthy female Indian stick insect will lay during her lifetime.

I work in plant protection and need 50 clip cages for whiteflies. I don't want to make them, so please tell me how soon Small-Life Supplies could supply them to me (I'm in the UK) ?
Small-Life Supplies are currently manufacturing lots of clip cages for whiteflies and aphids. These clip cages are made in the UK and current lead time for 50 clip cages is 2 weeks.

Is the new growth privet dangerous for the stick insects like the new growth bramble is?
No, the new growth privet leaves are safe for stick insects to eat, and also safe for the caterpillars of the Indian Eri silkmoth (Samia ricini) to eat. However, only a very few species of stick insects thrive on a diet of privet leaves. Most species of stick insect eat bramble (blackberry) leaves and it is important to discard the very small pale green new growth of bramble leaves because this can harm the stick insects if eaten. This issue only occurs at this time of year and will soon be resolved because the new pale green leaves will quickly grow to a size where they are safe to be eaten by stick insects. This size is 3cm, so if in doubt measure the leaf to check it has a minimum length of 3cm. For more details, please watch the Small-Life Supplies YouTube video # 1.

I know that Small-Life Supplies is the manufacturer of the ELC stick insect cages and so I am asking if you have any "reject" cages for sale at the moment? I've got a lot of bills this month and so am looking to make savings where I can. If not, no worries, I'll wait till the end of next month, but my Indian stick insects are wanting a larger home and I've seen the ELC cage recommended.
Small-Life Supplies continues to manufacture the ELC cage in the UK, and has been doing so since 2012. The ELC cage is specifically designed for stick insects and would be ideal housing for your Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus). During the production process, all cages undergo several quality checks and if any cages have scratches on the panels, they are put to one side and sold at a 15% discount as "grade B"". Unfortunately we don't have any "grade B" cages in stock at the moment. However, we do have a few used ELC cages for sale, these have some marks and scratches but overall are still in very good condition. These used cages have been cleaned and are available at a 25% price discount. Photos of these cages are available, so if you are interested in purchasing one, please phone 01733 203358 during office hours for more details. All of our ELC cages are dispatched ready assembled and carefully packaged in strong bespoke packaging, so you can rest assured that the cage will arrive safely and not be damaged in transit.

We have just been given ten baby Indian stick insects (only a few days old) by my daughter's school. We were told to feed them wet bramble leaves. But my mother says they should eat privet leaves as that's what she fed hers when she had them as a girl years ago! I said I'd ask you for the answer.
Decades ago many people in the UK fed their Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) with privet leaves, snipped from privet hedges popular at the time. When Small-Life Supplies started, back in 1985, privet was the staple diet for Indian stick insects. But over ten years later the Indian stick insects at Small-Life Supplies that were fed on bramble (blackberry) leaves were noticeably more active and healthier than those fed on privet leaves. So the decision was made to switch the entire breeding population of Indian stick insects over to eating bramble. That practice continues today, with all the Indian stick insects at Small-Life Supplies being given wet bramble (blackberry) leaves from birth. Older Indian stick insects are sometimes given a choice of other fresh leaves including rose, hazel, eucalyptus and Red Robin (Photinia), all of which are eaten. However when privet is offered this is usually ignored, and only occasionally eaten. So I recommend you follow the school's advice and continue to feed your Indian stick insects with wet bramble leaves.

I'm intrigued by the concept of releasing British Vapourer caterpillars in my garden. I admit I was unaware of this caterpillar's existence until I came across it on your website. Aren't they colourful! Does this bright colouration protect them from being eaten by birds? If I decided to go ahead with the "buy to release" concept, how many caterpillars would you suggest I buy? My garden is nature friendly, and already has several established bramble patches which attract bees and butterflies, but are not yet home to British Vapourer caterpillars!
Yes, the British Vapourer (Orgyia antiqua) caterpillars are very colourful, with their yellow, red, white and black markings. This appearance is classic "warning colouration" which deters birds from eating them. When releasing British caterpillars to boost the local population, or establish a new population, there is guidance to follow. It's important the specimens are healthy. Fortunately, Small-Life Supplies are breeding really strong healthy genetic strains of British Vapourer caterpillars and their diet is always healthy fresh bramble (blackberry) leaves, artificial food is never used. A maximum of six caterpillars should only be released on one bramble bush. Release should be done in dry weather, ideally around 5pm. The British Vapourer caterpillars are available in packs of six, so you could purchase several packs, one pack of caterpillars for each of your bramble bushes. Doing this, you maximise your chances of establishing a local population of these British Vapourer caterpillars and you can enjoy seeing future generations of them for years to come.

Our stick insect eggs are hatching! Five so far, they are the Indian ones. The eldest is nine days old but TBH they all look the same size to me? How fast do they grow? Also, they all seem to be doing well in the HAP, but don't eat much bramble ...is this normal?
You won't see any difference in length between a one-day old Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) and one that is a couple of weeks old. So it is completely normal for your nine day old Indian stick insect to look just like the younger ones. The dramatic growth spurt occurs when a stick insect sheds its skin, the first skin-change (ecdysis) occurs when the Indian stick insect is approximately three weeks old. After her skin-change, she will have doubled in length! The HAP is ideal housing for young Indian stick insects, because at this stage of their lives, they prefer less-ventilated surroundings. It is only when they get larger that they require more airy surroundings and so should be transferred to the ELC cage when they have a total length of 3.5cm. Young Indian stick insects do not eat much, so it is normal to only see very small pieces missing from the edges of the bramble (blackberry) leaves.

Are you guys doing any of the invert shows in the UK this year?
No. The existence and attendance of insect shows seems to be in terminal decline. And the "invertebrate shows" should be renamed as "spider shows" because the vast majority of stalls are spider related. There isn't much crossover between people interested in spiders and people interested in insects and that is one reason why Small-Life Supplies does not exhibit at "invert" shows.

Can stick insects recognise you? I have noticed Capellino, my favourite Indian stick insect, prefers to stay on my hand rather than go to my sister's.
Yes, stick insects have sensory pads in their feet and use these to recognise people via smell. So, as you have handled Capellino a lot, she knows who you are and feels safe on your hand, which is why she is hesitant about walking on your sister's hand. I have exactly the same experience with the stick insects that I handle a lot, they are reluctant to leave my hand to walk on anyone else's hand.

Would you recommend "Sunny" stick insects for a nine year old boy? My son is desperate to care for some stick insects and it's his birthday soon, so we'll be getting the whole shebang from you.
It's great that your son would like some stick insects for his birthday, but please don't get him "Sunny" stick insects. This is because this species, Sungaya inexpectata, originally from the Philippines, would not be the best type for him, and of course he would be upset if they died. These stick insects are dark and are not the easiest to keep. Instead, your son would enjoy keeping the Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) and/or the Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus) much more. This is because Indian stick insects and Pink Winged stick insects are much more lively, colourful, easy to handle and very robust. They do well in the ELC cage and you can keep both types together in the same cage, they both eat bramble (blackberry) leaves. Small-Life Supplies can dispatch everything together on a next day express delivery service, and live arrival is guaranteed.

I have recently obtained another (poorly) Annam stickbug. She has a darkened stump(?) where her leg would have been. Will this cause problem when she moults? If so, how can I prevent it? Or will it go away on its own?
Fortunately, I can see from the photos you emailed me that this Annam stick insect (Baculum extradentatum) is fine. The stump you refer to is in fact a small regenerated leg, it will have appeared at the last moult (ecdysis) to replace the leg that was lost. Some species of stick insect, for example the Indian stick insect, Carausius morosus, are able to regenerate a recognisable new miniature leg the first time they complete a skin-change after the leg loss. But other species, including the Annam stick insect (Baculum extradentatum) and the Thailand stick insect (Baculum thaii) regenerate a curly structure that initially bears no resemblance to a leg. However with subsequent moults, this curly structure morphs into a recognisable little leg, getting more useful with each successive skin-change. Stick insects can manage to complete skin-changes successfully even if they have a missing leg, so there is no cause for concern. You can enjoy seeing her new leg grow over the next few months.

Just wondering if you could advise, our two adult Pink Winged insects are looking a bit speckled. They’re eating and drinking as normal but just a weird colour change. Any idea why? I’ve attached some photos.
This can happen if the surroundings are too humid, so it's important to only lightly mist the bramble leaves once a day and avoid getting the stick insects wet. It's easy to tell if you are spraying too much water in the into the cage because the ELC Liner starts to curl up.

I’m new to keeping stick insects, I have just received your brilliant ELC enclosure. What’s the best procedure for cleaning out the ELC enclosure? Where do you put the stick insects while it's being cleaned? I do have a large plastic box with vents, would that do?
You can leave the stick insects on the white mesh sides of the ELC cage when you change the ELC Liner and the food, they usually don't go running off! And you can even turn the cage upside down and gently shake it, to remove any debris that may have slipped underneath the Liner and the stick insects will still hang on to the mesh side. However, before you wash the cage out (once a month), then the stick insects need to be transferred to another container. The box you have sounds OK, or another option is to put the stick insects into an empty washing up bowl and then place a tea towel on top to stop them from climbing out.

I heard someone on the radio referring to a termite as a "blind cockroach", this confused me because I don't see the connection? Surely they are classified as belonging to different orders?
Classification of insects continues to follow the Linneaus system, with insects with shared characteristics being assigned to a particular "order". So, for example, stick insects are in order Phasmida, butterflies and moths in the order Lepidoptera and beetles are in the order Coleoptera. For many decades, cockroaches have been in the order Blattodea and termites in the order Isoptera. Of course there will inevitably be some shared physical similarities across different orders, but in the example of cockroaches and termites, it is logical to have then in separate orders because their behaviour is totally different. Termites are "social insects", with thousands living together in a community, with a caste system involving termites varying in appearance according to their job, and everything revolving around prioritising the health of the one egg-laying queen. In contrast, cockroaches do not behave in this way. However, recent work on DNA analysis suggests a strong link between termites and cockroaches, so some people wish to widen the scope of Blattodea to include termites. (The comment about being blind is because many termites live underground, in the dark.)

I have a science teacher who cares for stick insects. Recently, I noticed a miserable-looking stick on the bottom of her enclosure. I felt awful for her, and I figured she'd have better chances with me where I can pay special attention to her. She is a young Annam walking stick, and I've noticed her abdomen is bent. She is on the underside of a bramble leaf, and there are drops of water accessible to her. TLDR: Can I help my young stick bug with an injured abdomen? How?
Thank you for the photos. Depending on how the abdomen is bent it can sometimes be fixed, but unfortunately I can see that your stick insect is young and the bend is not one that can be rectified. So the kindest action is to make her last few days as comfortable as possible, you are already doing this by giving her water to drink. The issue of an abdomen bent in this particular way, as seen with your stick insect, occasionally occurs in some species, notably the Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus) and the Annam stick insect (Baculum extradentatum). It's not clear what causes this rare condition, but it only occurs with young stick insects and, unfortunately, is fatal. It is good that you are concerned about the welfare of stick insects, and that you have done all you can to help this ill stick insect.

I’m after some stick insects to keep as pets but ideally don’t want them breeding constantly, is it possible to have a pair of males for example?
Adult female stick insects lay eggs every day, but these eggs take several months to hatch, so it's easy to keep control of how many eggs you wish to save. Unwanted eggs can be fed to birds, or tip them into a dish and pour hot water onto those eggs that you don't want to develop any further. This extreme heat method is 100% effective, quick, humane and recommended by scientists. Some species of stick insect are all-female, other species have males and females in approximately equal numbers. For the latter, these bond as pairs and mate regularly throughout their adult life. So it would be a bit mean to just keep males on their own, so that is why Small-Life Supplies always supply a mixture of both males and females.

When I remove the tiny shoots off the bramble stems, is it enough to just snip the leaves off or do I have to pull the whole shoot off?
During Spring time the new shoots of bramble sprout forth and the very small leaves (under 3cm long) can harm the stick insects if they are eaten. So it's important to snip off all pale green bramble leaves that are under 3cm long. This is best done with seccateurs. It is just the leaves that need to be removed. This is demonstrated in Small-Life Supplies first YouTube video, here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W396YpLlriM

How often should Pink Winged stick insects fly?
Adult Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus) should be taken out of the ELC cage about once a week and given the opportunity to fly across the room. Some Pink Winged stick insects are keener to fly than others.

My first Indian stick insect is lethargic, and is on the bottom of the cage. She is thirteen months old and looks darker than she used to. I guess she's dying, is there anything I can do to help?
Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) live for one year on average, and so yours has done well to live for 13 months. Old stick insects usually darken in colour, become less active and lose their ability to grip with the sticky pads on their front feet. The kindest action is to gently prop your stick insect's head on a wet leaf so she can drink. Dying stick insects are often thirsty and so making it easy for them to drink water during their final days is the kindest thing to do.

We got a pair of huge Jungle Nymph stick insects and they are a nightmare to hold and have left my son's hands with puncture wounds! Any advice, the seller refuses to have them back and so we are wondering what to do next? It's the first time we have kept stick insects, I never dreamt they would be so feisty!
It is unfortunate that you have chosen this species to start with because it is a challenging type, suitable for experienced stick insect keepers and not novices! Sometimes called the "Jungle Nymph", this is also known as the Malaysian stick insect, Heteropteryx dilatata. The adults look very impressive because they are large and chunky and the adult female is a vivid lime green. It is very important when keeping this species to handle the immature stick insects a lot whilst they are growing up to get them used to being handled. Failure to do this usually results in aggressive adults, which can only be handled safely if protective suede gardening gloves are worn. Of course if your son has lots of patience and talks to them in a calm manner you might see some improvement in their behaviour but this will probably take months. Good surroundings, plenty of food, a dish of cold clean drinking water and a Sand Pit (for the female to bury her eggs) will also help.

What do stick insects need in their tank?
Stick insects need proper climbing surfaces, so it's best to house them in a cage with two mesh sides so they can get a foothold with the small claws on their feet. The ELC cage is the best enclosure for keeping stick insects successfully. Stick insects need plenty of food, so put one or two Sprig Pots of bramble (blackberry) leaves in the cage. Most species of stick insects eat bramble (blackberry) leaves, but there are a few species which do not, so it's important to check that you are purchasing a bramble eating species. The floor of the cage should be covered with a disposable paper Liner, because this provides hygienic surroundings and makes it very easy to spot the stick insect eggs that are dropped onto the floor. No other décor is needed, and indeed is best avoided because it may harm the stick insects if it is accidentally consumed by them or emits a toxic odour.

I've been excitedly watching Martha, my largest New Guinea for the last few days because she's looking fat and is due to change her skin. Anyway, I'd turned the lights off and gone to bed, and then I woke up and I couldn't remember if I'd locked the back door, so I went downstairs to check and I switched the light on. To my surprise all the New Guinea stick insects were on the move, and there was Martha, near the top of the ELC cage, mid-moult! Wow! I'd never seen a stick insect moult before, so even though it was 2am, I stayed to watch. But it looked like Martha had frozen, she didn't move at all, so after a few minutes I gave up and went back to bed. In the morning I spotted her cast off skin, still attached to the side of the ELC cage and she's now huge! I wonder why she froze, was it because I was watching her?
Great to hear that Martha completed her skin-change (ecdysis) successfully. New Guinea stick insects (Eurycantha calcarata) are large chunky stick insects, so their shed-skins (exuviae) are particularly impressive to examine afterwards. The reason why she stopped mid-moult was because you switched the light on. It is really important not to switch the lights on after you have turned them off at night. This is because darkness triggers activity in stick insects and once they are awake and active, to suddenly have everything bright again is a real shock and so the stick insects respond by becoming motionless. This is serious if the stick insect is shedding its skin because this is a time critical activity which needs to be completed in under thirty minutes whilst the new skin is moist. Thankfully you switched the light off again after a few minutes and so Martha could complete her skin-change successfully because she was only interrupted for a few minutes. If you had left the light on, her new skin would have dried and she would have got stuck in it, resulting in her dying after a few days.

I know male Indian stick insects are incredibly rare, I hope to see one in my own culture eventually, but after seventeen years, here's hoping! But what about male Pink Winged stick insects? I imagine they occur too, have you ever seen one?
Yes, male Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) are very rare, 1 occuring for very 10000 females. The male Indian stick insect is tan coloured, has two sloping red marks on the upperside of the thorax and the underside of the thorax is red. He is hyperactive, has longer antennae than the female, and of course has the green male genitalia that he exposes when he wishes to mate. Here at Small-Life Supplies, we breed Indian stick insects in very large numbers and over the decades have seen a few males, their frequency of occurrence supports the probability of them occuring 0.01% of the time. And yes, male Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus) occur too, at a similar frequency. The male Pink Winged stick insects that we have reared at Small-Life Supplies are even more hyperactive than the male Indian stick insects and so are extremely hard to photograph! The male Pink Winged stick insect is a much smaller, slimmer version of the female, and is always flying off and running around!

Your baby snails on facebook are so cute! Do you have these for sale?
Yes, Small-Life Supplies sell baby Giant African Land Snails (Achatina fulica). These aren't newborn ones, which are tiny, but snails that have grown a bit, as shown in the photo. Their shell sizes are approx 1.5cm - 2cm long, which means they are too small to be housed in the standard HLQ cage because this is designed for snails with a shell length of 3cm or more. The best housing for the small snails is the SPONG, and we supply two snails together with the SPONG and an information sheet. More details will be on the website soon.

I have purchased some plants safe for stick insects! Please remind me how long I need to wait to be 100% certain they will be safe for my Pink Winged stick insects to consume?
The Pink Winged (Sipyloidea sipylus) stick insects eat bramble/blackberry leaves, also eucalyptus leaves. Most potted plants purchased need to be left a very long time, 12 months, to allow time for the pesticides in the soil/compost to break down. After one year they are safe for the stick insects to eat.

What's the difference between an earthworm and a mealworm?
They are completely different creatures, and have nothing in common, apart from the ambiguous use of the word "worm". An earthworm is classified as a worm and so is an "annelid" and belongs to the phylum "Annelida". A mealworm is the larva (immature form) of the Tenebrio molitor beetle and so is an "insect", belonging to the phylum "Arthropoda" and class "Insecta".

I have one of your ELC cages which is home to four New Guinea stick insects. This morning I saw a perfect moulted skin dangling from a bramble stem, it is completely intact and a work of art! I think it's from Phoebe (my largest female) But she's now hiding in the tube with the others so I don't want to disturb her. My question is should I leave the skin in the cage for her to eat later? Previously they have all eaten their moulted skins, save a leg!
All stick insects grow by shedding their skins, this is called ecdysis. The shed skin is indeed amazing because as well as being a perfect replica of the outside of the stick insect, it also contains the linings of their inner breathing tubes as well! In the thirty minutes or so after a skin-change, the inside of the shed skin is wet and is palatable. So if a stick insect is going to eat it's skin, it does this immediately after completing the skin-change. And yes, it is common for the larger species of stick insect such as the New Guinea stick insect (Eurycantha calcarata) and the Malaysian stick insect (Heteropteryx dilatata) to eat everything except one trophy shed leg ! If the shed skin (exuvia) is not eaten, it dries and becomes hard and brittle and so is no not suitable to be eaten. So you can remove the skin and keep it as an interesting piece, it will last for years. You are correct in not disturbing Phoebe, her new outer skin will be soft and she will need to rest after the ordeal of completing a skin-change.

I have 26 stick insects at the moment and whilst cleaning out their tank one has a strange thing on its under side. I will send a picture.
Thanks for the photo of your adult Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) with the green blob underneath her tail end. The green blob is male genitalia and is part of this particular stick insect. So your stick insect is mostly female but has this male characteristic, so is part male, part female, and is called a "gynandromorph". The Indian stick insect in the photo is predominantly female, so she may still lay eggs, although not very many. She can live with the other stick insects in the same cage, but is likely to die sooner than the others because of her condition.

How much should we handle our new stick insects? They are Indian stick insects, adults, purchased from Small-Life Supplies, they love walking up my son's arm!
Part of the enjoyment of keeping Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) is that they are good to handle and so it is great that your son is enjoying handling them. Some Indian stick insects are naturally more active than others, in general the most active ones have slightly shorter lifespans than the less active ones. It is the same with Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus), those that enjoy flying a lot do have slightly shorter lifespans than those adults that are not as keen to fly. However, in both cases a sensible time limit is approximately five minutes per day. Also, stick insects can get used to a routine, so if you handle them at a particular time every day, they soon learn to be active around that time.

I am curious as to why you include the species ID every time you mention a stick insect. I never use species names, I call my Indian stick insects "Indians", my friends do too.
I am British and live in the UK but this "Ask Prof Phasmid" page has an international audience, so when referring to an insect, I use it's common British name, for example Indian stick insect, but also it's unique Latin species name Carausius morosus. This is so people all over the world can understand which stick insect I am talking about! The Latin species name assigned to an insect is fixed, so it does not matter what country you live in, the Latin species name of the Indian stick insect will always be Carausius morosus.

Is it possible to overfeed stick insects? I now have eighteen Indian stick insects and four Pink Winged stick insects in the ELC cage and every week I put in fresh brambles in the Sprig Pot. I had a thought of putting a second Sprig Pot of brambles in as well, but I'm hesitating in case they would munch it all straight away?
You've got quite a lot of stick insects in the ELC cage and so I'd recommend putting two Sprig Pots of fresh bramble in there for them. Initially they might eat more than usual, but if you keep to the regime of two Sprig Pots of bramble per week, then the stick insects will get used to this and go back to eating their normal amount. Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) and Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus) seem to be able to regulate their body weight well, and generally only over eat when their surroundings dramatically change, so suddenly being given double the amount of food falls into this category. In contrast, some adult female Australian Macleays Spectre stick insects (Extatosoma tiaratum) can really gorge themselves on bramble and eucalyptus leaves, getting so fat they can struggle to lift their abdomens up!

Would the Jungle Nymph stick insects be good pets for a young child? My daughter is six and loves bugs, we have a copse nearby where we walk our dog, and there is loads of bramble there.
The "Jungle Nymph" stick insect is also called the Malaysian stick insect (Heteropteryx dilatata). It is a top-of-the-range stick insect and so is best suited to people who have lots of experience in keeping stick insects. This is because Malaysian stick insects need very careful handling and have particular ventilation requirements (so add the Ventilation Control Panels to the ELC cage). Malaysian stick insects are very slow growing (they grow more than twice as slowly as other species, so reach adulthood after one year (instead of the standard five months). If they are not handled correctly, Malaysian stick insects can become aggressive and stab your fingers with the sharp spines on their legs. So, to answer your question, the answer is a resounding no! If your daughter wants a large chunky stick insect, a much better choice would be the New Guinea stick insect (Eurycantha calcarata) because they are much easier to look after, more active, and have calm temperaments. Small-Life Supplies breed and supply New Guinea stick insects, please contact us to be added to the waiting-list, because these stick insects should be up to size and ready to dispatch in the next month or so.

My original adult Indian stick insects are still alive, incredibly, and some of their children are now only two or three moults away from adulthood. I put some of the larger babies in the ELC with the adults, and I've noticed that certain adult stick insects seem to spend a lot of time with certain babies (some of the babies are different colours, and they're of varying sizes, so I can tell a fair few of them apart). Have there been any studies demonstrating whether Indian stick insects can recognise their own offspring, or differentiate them from the offspring of other stick insects? I know a lot of their mating behaviour is pheromone-driven, so it seemed theoretically possibly that there could be similar chemical indicators of lineage.
Interesting to read your observations, I am not aware of studies being done to establish if stick insects can recognise their own offspring, so this would be an interesting project! Indeed, this should be a relatively straight forward experiment to do, using tiny dabs of non-toxic paint to identify offspring from certain females and then monitor their behaviour as they grow up with their mothers in the same ELC cage. I have noticed that hatchling New Guinea stick insects (Eurycantha calcarata) sometimes rest on top of adult females (but not with the adult males), but they are in communal ELC cages and so I don't know if they are with their mother or another adult female. Stick insects do have good sensory ability though, so it does seem logical they would be able to detect their birth mother (and vice-versa).

So I'll be purchasing some Pink Winged stick insects from you guys next month and I've already gone down the garden centre and selected a bushy eucalyptus plant. The manager hadn't a clue if the plant had been sprayed, so I'd appreciate your guidance on how long I need to wait for any pesticides to disappear (assuming the plant has been sprayed with pesticides)?
Many of the plants sold in garden centres have been treated with pesticides. Eucalyptus plants are often sprayed, the effects of the sprays on the leaves disappear after a couple of months. More long lasting though is the effects of the pesticides in the soil/compost in the plant pot. Those systemic insecticides are very long lasting, approximately one year, and are taken up by the plant roots and dispersed within the plant stems and veins of the leaves, so they cannot be washed off. You could ask how long the garden centre has had that particular plant, but if they don't know, you'd need to wait 12 months before using it to be absolutely sure the leaves are safe to eat and will not poison your stick insects. If you have a garden, you can plant your bushy eucalyptus plant outside, but make sure it is well away from any boundary because eucalyptus grows very quickly and you don't need the hassle of moaning neighbours! Meantime there is always the option of purchasing fresh cut bramble and eucalyptus from Small-Life Supplies.

My daughter's stick insect has got stuck mid moult and died. It was in an all net enclosure. Would the ELC cage be better housing? She was a Sabah Thorny stick insect, my daughter is very upset and wants a replacement, but I said we need to source the correct enclosure first.
Net enclosures are very airy and are far too ventilated for many species of stick insect. Often these cages are mass produced in China at low cost. However, most of the commonly kept stick insect do best in a cage with just two mesh sides, so the ELC cage (designed and manufactured in the UK) is ideal for these types. However there are a handful of species which prefer less-ventilated conditions, and your stick insect, the Sabah Thorny (Aretaon asperrimus) falls into this category. So the solution is to house it in the ELC cage but with the "Ventilation Control Panels" added. These are clear panels that attach onto the outside of the rigid mesh panels, so block off the holes and reduce the air-flow, but still allow the stick insects access to the holes to climb. When ordering your ELC cage, just request the Ventilation Control Panels (these are £2.40 for two) and the cage will be sent to you with these pre-fitted. They can be removed later on if your daughter decides to try keeping another species. The stick insect species that Small-Life Supplies breed and sell do well in the ELC cage and don't need the Ventilation Control Panels fitting.

Our Indian stick insect colony is thriving and I love the pink cage Liners for the ELC! I've got into the habit of tipping the Liner contents into a jug and adding boiling water. When the mixture has cooled, could I pour this mixture over my houseplants?
Yes, stick insect frass (droppings/poo) contains nitrogen and is an excellent fertiliser for plants. Here at Small-Life Supplies, we add boiling water to buckets of frass, let it stand for a week, stir it well, and then pour the solution around plants outdoors and also our potted indoor plants. The health and vigour of our plants is testament of its effectiveness!

Why are Malaysian stick insects so vicious?
Malaysian stick insects (Heteropteryx dilatata) can lash out with their spiky legs and hiss, but generally only do this if they feel threatened. If you handle these stick insects a lot when they are growing up and talk to them in a calm manner (their ears are by their knees), the Malaysian stick insects get used to you and relax, so this defensive behaviour disappears. And it is important not to show any fear because stick insects seem able to sense this and play up accordingly. I remember a scientist who was terrified of his aggressive adult female Malaysian stick insect. He was totally amazed when I picked her up, talked to her, and she walked across my hands without playing up at all!

We had one of our stick insect eggs hatch. I just wondered in terms of care, any tips? I think this is a male Thailand stick insect. We kept some Indian eggs so I guess if when they hatch we keep them in the HAP?
Congratulations on your baby Thailand stick insect (Baculum thaii)! The scientific term for a newborn stick insect is a first instar nymph. Thailand stick insects have males and females in equal numbers, but the stick insects need to be a few months old before you can tell which gender they are, so you'll need to wait a while before you know the gender of this stick insect. Thailand stick insects do best in the ELC stick insect cage from birth, so carefully transfer this stick insect to the bramble in the ELC cage. Young Thailand stick insects usually rest on the leaf extremities of the bramble sprigs. Like other baby stick insects, Thailand stick insects are thirsty so it's best to lightly mist the bramble leaves with cold tap water. Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) eggs take twice as long to hatch than Thailand stick insect eggs. It's best to house the baby Indian stick insects in the HAP because, unlike Thailand stick insects, Indian stick insects prefer less ventilated surroundings when they are very young. Transfer the Indian stick insects from the HAP to the ELC cage when they are have a total length of approx 3.5cm, this is when they are approx 6-8 weeks old.

My Carausius morosus colony isn't doing well. They are exhibiting a sticky green poop that is not properly dropping from them. I have six other species of plasmids feeding on the same brambles with no issue. What do you think?
The green thing you are seeing is probably not poop but partial male genitalia. If this is permanently on show, you have gynandromorph Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus), so although your stick insects are predominantly female, they are also exhibiting a male characteristic which is the green male genitalia. Such individuals usually look deformed, so their bodies are not as plump and straight as the standard bodies seen on the females. Gynandromorph Indian stick insects do not mate and also struggle to lay eggs, so it is best not to breed from them because they are not healthy stock.

I've seen some conflicting advice on-line so hope you can help! When I fill my Mister Swivel with water from the tap, can I use it straight away to mist the bramble leaves for my stick insects? I have Thailand stick insects, Pink Winged stick insects and also Indian stick insects and I live in Daventry, UK.
Yes, of course, and here at Small-Life Supplies we do this all the time because we have so many cages of stick insects! In the UK, cold tap water is safe to drink immediately from the tap and safe for stick insects to drink immediately too. Some people prefer the taste of filtered tap water, or tap water that is left to chill in the fridge, but these measures make no difference health-wise to either humans or stick insects.

Can you put stick insects in a fish tank?
A fish tank is a bad enclosure for stick insects because it is not tall enough and not ventilated enough. Stick insects need a tall enclosure (at least 48cm high) and the cage should have two full mesh sides to allow for lots of air-flow. The ELC stick insect cage has been specially designed for stick insects and is available nationwide in the UK, dispatch is fast and the ELC cage is delivered ready assembled, so is ready to be used immediately!

My daughter would love a pet, but with all the turmoil in our lives, we are looking at animals that can care for themselves for a few days. Do stick insects meet this requirement?
Absolutely. One of the benefits of keeping stick insects is that they are very low maintenance and so only need feeding once a week. In fact you can even leave them unattended for a ten day stretch if you put in additional sprig pots of bramble leaves so the cage is full of food. Temperature wise they do need to be in a warm room (approximately 18 degrees Celsius ) during the day, and colder (approximately 12 degrees Celsius) at night, so if you going away, you would need to leave your heating on. Ideally you will have a programmable thermostatic timer which allows you to pre-set the day and night temperatures in the room. But if you don't have this facility, then a good compromise is to leave your heating on 24 hours at 16 degrees Celsius whilst you are away.

Does one spermatophore fertilise a stick insect for life?
No. The sperm in the spermatophore enter the female's body and fertilise the eggs she is producing at the time. The next time she mates, usually a week or two later, the male produces a new spermatophore and the sperm contained in that one fertilise the eggs she is producing at that time. Sexual stick insects mate regularly throughout their adult lives (approximately seven months or longer, depending on the species). Sometimes, the male does not produce a spermatophore, other times it falls off the female's body straight away, so not all matings are successful in transferring the sperm.

Our pink wing stick insects have had a baby. Seems one of the eggs snuck by us! It's teeny! We'll need a HAP for it. Will it be OK for a few days in the big enclosure or should we move her into something else for the time being?
If it's a baby Pink Winged stick insect (Sipyloidea sipylus) then she should be quite large and pale green. It's best to house baby Pink Winged stick insects in the ELC cage from birth, because they like airy surroundings straight away, so don't use the HAP for this species. Remember to mist the bramble leaves with water because baby Pink Winged stick insects like to drink water.

One of my Indian stick insects has lost two back legs. A few of my insects seem to be losing legs recently. Is this natural?
This is of concern, so you need to act if you can to prevent further leg loss. Are your stick insects very old? Sometimes they lose legs just before dying from old age, but this is still unusual and not normal behaviour. If your stick insects are very old, you should mist the leaves more generously with water because old stick insects drink more than younger ones. What is the quality of the leaves like? Poor quality leaves are low in nutrition and this can lead to stress and leg loss. So always pick the best quality leaves that you see. If the bramble leaves in your area are poor quality, then provide some other types of leaves as well, for example eucalyptus leaves, or Photinia red robin leaves, or rose leaves. Always collect the leaves from plants growing outside, never use potted plants because their leaves may contain residual pesticides which will kill your stick insects.

My son says that he would like one female Indian stick insect. Can they live alone?
Stick insects like company of their own kind, and so that is why Small-Life Supplies sells Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) in packs of four. We would not sell just one stick insect to be kept on her own because she would be lonely.

I believe we should focus more on how nature solves complex problems and we'll spend less time re-inventing the wheel. Let's face it, Mother nature has been at this a lot longer than we have. Almost every discovery and invention we pat our back about was 'invented' first in the natural world. Gears? First invented by jumping insects. Cryoprotectants? Insects and other invertebrates having been using sugars as cryoprotectants for a millennia.
Yes, I absolutely agree with you. It's depressing and ridiculous that the wonders and workings of nature are so overlooked. However, it is encouraging that progress is being made in using insects to help people, for example with their incredible ability of sensory detection, bees can be used to detect contraband drugs by smelling them in airports. And now it's been proven that ants can be trained to smell certain odours, some are currently being used to detect cancer cells in laboratory mice.

Our pair of Nuichua rabaeyae stick insects are well over one year old. Tulip's long term partner Bradley always seemed to be connected to her. Tulip died this morning but Bradley is now very active, and walking around the cage. He's not with Tulip anymore so should I remove her body?
When one stick insect dies of old age, it's long term partner can show grief, by staying with the dead body for a day or two. In these situations, it is best to delay removing the corpse for a couple of days. This behaviour is often seen in New Guinea stick insects (Eurycantha calcarata), but only if the pair were particularly close. The Nuichua rabaeyae species is one of the newer species of Vietnamese stick insect to be kept as pets and so it's behaviour hasn't been observed and recorded for as long as it has for the New Guinea stick insect. It will be really obvious in the coming days how Bradley is coping with the loss of his partner. If he stops eating and keeps going to her body, he is likely to die very soon. But if he continues to be active and is eating well, he may last a few more weeks or months, depending on his actual age. Either way, I'd recommend you leave the dead body in the cage for a couple of days, before removing it and disposing of it.

Why do people say they shudder at the thought of pouring hot water over unwanted stick insect eggs? I don't shudder when I make a cup of tea!
Recently laid stick insect eggs are just liquid inside, there are no recognisable parts of an insect because the liquid is just cells at a very early stage of development. Stick insect eggs take a long time, typically months, to develop into a recognisable form. Indeed the Malaysian stick insect (Heteropteryx dilatata) eggs take one and a half years to develop! So there is no need to feel bad by using boiling water to stop the eggs from developing any further. In their native habitat, stick insects lay hundreds of eggs because most of the eggs perish either by being waterlogged or eaten. In captivity, it is important to keep sensible numbers of eggs otherwise you will have far too many stick insects. Extreme heat (such as boiling water) is 100% effective at stopping development of eggs and is very fast. Extreme cold (such as freezing) is very slow and not 100% effective because eggs thaw out when removed from the freezer and some can be viable again. This is why qualified scientists such as myself always recommend using extreme heat over extreme cold.

Help! I've just noticed something really weird, Maisee, my Indian stick insect, seems to be trying to eat her own antenna! I don't understand why she's doing this? I put in fresh bramble leaves yesterday, they are lush , gathered from behind the leisure centre, and Bobbles, my other Indian stick insect is eating a leaf at the moment.
There is no need to be concerned, Maisee is not eating her antenna, rather she is cleaning it. Antennae are important sensory organs for stick insects and are full of tiny hairs which detect sensory information from the surroundings and pass this onto the stick insect's brain. To work effectively, the antennae must be clean. So the stick insect cleans her antennae by passing each one in turn through her wet mouth, guiding it with her front feet.

I stored some proscopid exuviae in a box a few years ago and when I opened the box today, all that was left was dust!
Yes, it appears that the composition of the exoskeleton of a proscopid (horsehead grasshopper) is much more prone to disintegration than that of a phasmid (stick insect). Here at Small-Life Supplies we have shed skins of stick insects that have remained intact for decades, unlike those of proscopids which deteriorate much more quickly.

I'd like to purchase an ELC stick insect enclosure so shall I pay via PayPal or do I need an invoice first?
You need the invoice first. To get this, just email us with your delivery postcode and what you'd like to purchase. You will then receive an Order Confirmation confirming the prices and our terms and conditions. The PayPal invoice will then be generated and emailed to you. Please note that an actual person does all of this and so you will receive these communications within normal working hours.

I´d like to purchase a stick insect cage. It currently only needs to house one. Are there other sizes available other than the 51cm high one? Which seems a little large for one?
Stick insects do best in a tall cage, at least 46cm high, so the ELC cage at 51cm high is the best stick insect cage for housing stick insects, regardless of whether you have just one or if you have ten stick insects. As well as providing plenty of room for the stick insects to grow properly, a tall cage also enables you to put in decent lengths of bramble stems with leaves (push these into the Sprig Pot of cold tap water to keep the leaves fresh for one week). Stick insects like company of their own kind and so I recommend you get another stick insect to keep your existing one company.

We have just hatched out a stick insect egg. So we would like to buy a HAP container and the ELC bundle. How long should we keep the stick insect in the HAP? She's an Indian stick insect.
Congratulations! Baby Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) do best in an unventilated container such as the HAP for the first few weeks of their lives. After approximately three weeks, the Indian stick insect moults for the first time and doubles in size. Keep her in the HAP for another few weeks, and then when she has a total body length (including the front legs outstretched) of 3.5cm, she is ready to be transferred to a larger, more airy enclosure, the ELC cage is ideal. Stick insects need to drink water and so it's important to put a wet bramble leaf into the HAP. When you have stick insects housed in the ELC cage, it's best to mist the bramble leaves lightly with water preferably every evening (or late afternoon).

We are new to the world of phasmids, and would value your advice on whether to start with leaf insects or stick insects? My son is fourteen and looks after his guinea pigs really well.
Great that your son is interested in animals and is responsible too. There are lots of different species of stick insects and also several different species of leaf insects. Some species are easier to keep than others, so it's always best to start with an easy species before trying to keep a more challenging type. In general, stick insects are a lot easier to keep than leaf insects, so your son would be to wise to start with keeping stick insects.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is the height of a stick insect enclosure? I'm getting some young Indian stick insects and some places say the cage needs to be 46cm high, but I've seen other places selling tanks that are only 30cm high, but that's a big difference, around one third shorter?
Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus), and many other popular species of stick insect, need to be housed in a cage that is at least 46cm high. The ELC cage that Small-Life Supplies has designed and has been manufacturing in the UK for the last eleven years, is 51cm high. The height is extremely important, so the score is 10/10 on a scale of 1 to 10. Trying to house growing stick insects in a squat tank of 30cm is not recommended because there is not enough height to allow the stick insects room to shed their skins properly (they do this by sliding vertically downwards out of their old skins which is why they need plenty of height to do this properly). It is sad to see people's photos of their deformed stick insects (with bent bodies), because these deformities have been caused by the stick insects not having enough room to straighten out their bodies after a skin-change (ecdysis). This can be so easily avoided by housing the stick insects correctly in a tall cage (46cm+ high) instead of a squat tank.

Our Pink Winged stick insects have arrived, are we OK to mist them with tap water or do they need rain/distilled water?
Like many other stick insects, the Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus), need to drink water from water droplets on the bramble (blackberry) and eucalyptus leaves. So lightly mist the leaves every evening or late afternoon. It doesn't matter if you miss a day or two. Set the nozzle of the plant sprayer to a fine mist and just mist the leaves, don't get the actual stick insects wet. A light misting is best, you know if you are over-spraying because the ELC cage Liner will start to curl up. In the UK, using cold tap water is fine.

My son started off with two Indian stick insects but sadly one died of old age and so we had a burial. He is concerned that the remaining stick insect will be lonely and so we would like to buy some more. I think he is right because they did rest together when they were both alive.
Your son is correct, stick insects do like company of their own kind and so it is always best to keep them in small groups rather than on their own. Small-Life Supplies supply Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) in packs of four adults. There is plenty of room in the ELC cage for your surviving Indian stick insect and four new ones.

Please can you tell me when your snail tank Liners will be in stock again? I only have one left!
We are awaiting a delivery of HLQ Liners, this is scheduled for the end of next week and so, all being well, the HLQ Liners should be dispatched to customers from the middle of January. As you know, these HLQ Liners are great for using with Giant African Land Snails (Achatina fulica), because they are designed to be used wet (to increase the humidity in the cage), they are thick (so they cushion the impact of any snail that falls, thereby protecting it's shell from damage), and of course very hygienic (so no more little flies that are commonplace with soil/earth substrates).

My stick insects are the best Christmas present ever! Will they eat ivy as well as bramble? There's plenty of both in the churchyard. (They are Indian stick insects).
Great to hear that your Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) are a success! They do best if given bramble (blackberry) leaves to eat, but can also eat some other types of leaves as well, including: rose, hazel, "red robin" Photinia, and eucalyptus. Privet and ivy are sometimes eaten too. Indian stick insects will thrive solely on a diet of bramble/blackberry leaves, but if you wanted to try ivy or any of the above leaves, then offer that in addition to the bramble (blackberry) leaves, in other words don't do a sudden switch. Some Indian stick insects are more fussy than others, so it's really important to always have some nice green bramble leaves in the ELC cage for them to eat. And remember to lightly mist the leaves with water once a day, so the stick insects can drink from the water droplets on the leaves.

Do Indian stick insects require a heater or heat lamp with the ELC cage?
Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) are a robust species, and so usually don't require any extra heating. They do well in a room that is comfortably warm during the day (approximately 18 degrees Celsius) and cooler at night (approximately 12 degrees Celsius). However, if your home is chilly and consistently below these temperatures, then you would need to provide some extra warmth for your stick insects. The most effective way to do this is to purchase a 500 Watt portable oil-filled radiator, plug it into a wall socket, and position this radiator near the ELC cage (ideally 50cm away from a white mesh side). It's really important to purchase the 500 Watt model because this emits a nice gentle warmth (unlike the more powerful 1 kiloWatt and 2 kiloWatt versions which are much more expensive to run). Heat lamps and heat mats are not recommended because they can dry out the foliage too much and may also bend and even melt the plastic panels in the ELC cage.

I thought the incubation time for Thailand stick insect eggs was two months? Mine are just starting to hatch now, after three months?
Thailand stick insect eggs (Baculum thaii) have variable incubation time, depending on the ambient temperature and light intensity. So, during a hot sunny summer, the Thailand stick insect eggs can hatch after just four weeks! The rest of the year, it is usually two months, but during gloomy rainy conditions, it can be three months. The Thailand stick insect eggs at Small-Life Supplies are also taking three months to incubate at the moment.

I am a textile student and wondered if you ever have empty silk cocoons (spun by silkmoths) for sale? I want an ethical source, I can't bear the thought of them being killed just for their silk.
Here at Small-Life Supplies we breed the large Indian Eri silkmoth (Samia ricini) . Entomologists and enthusiasts purchase the living caterpillars (also called silkworms or larvae) to rear. They also purchase the intact cocoons containing the pupal stage of the silkmoths, and enjoy seeing the wonder of the giant silkmoth emerging from the silk cocoon it has spun. Artists and textile students like yourself purchase the empty silk cocoons from us, safe in the knowledge that the silkmoths have emerged successfully and been part of the breeding programme at Small-Life Supplies, living out their full life and certainly not been killed! For more details, including prices, please phone Small-Life Supplies on 01733 203358 weekdays between 9am and 6pm.

My stick insects seemed very excitable today, one of my fully grown Indian stick insects stomped off so fast across the table, she actually fell off the end and landed on the floor! And then one my Pink Winged stick insects started jerking herself BACKWARDS across the floor of the ELC cage. Is this just coincidence or are they sensing something?
Stick insects do pick up on people's mood, so it's likely they are reacting to how you were feeling today. This is why it's best to try and be calm around stick insects. And never try to touch a Pink Winged (Sipyloidea sipylus) stick insect that is jerking backwards, because she is very likely to throw off a leg when she is in such a frenzy. Most stick insects that topple off a table or are accidentally dropped are OK because they land on their feet. (In the wild they fall off branches so have evolved to land on their feet safely and avoid injury).

Instead of actual presents, I've asked my auntie, uncle and grandad for money this Christmas. This is so I can hopefully purchase a couple of ELC cage bundles for my stick insects, I've got two big Macleays Spectre stick insects and twelve Indian stick insects currently. When I got them they came with small tanks, but I've done more research and the ELC enclosures look much better. I'm not sure if I'll actually receive enough money, so please can you tell me if you'll be offering any voucher codes for discounts, or do you have any discounted ELC cages? Also, I'm in Guildford, so is there a store nearby where I could collect?
Stick insects do best in tall cages (at least 48cm high) which have two full ventilated sides, so the ELC cage (51cm high) is ideal housing and will be much better than a small tank for your Australian Macleays Spectre (Extatosoma tiaratum) stick insects and also your Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus). ELC cages are precision manufactured in the UK and are only available direct from Small-Life Supplies. If you'd like to save some money, you can enquire about the availability of the "grade B" ELC cages, these cages are discounted by 15% because they are brand new but there are some marks and scratches on the panels. These imperfections do not affect the functionality of the cage. All ELC cages are dispatched ready assembled by a reputable express courier and the total delivery price of two cages to Guildford, Surrey, would be £9.96.

I got my stick insects a little less than a week ago and two of my stick insect are doing just fine but my third is not OK at all and I don't know what to do. She hasn't been eating (that I know of) and she won't move, she doesn't have the strength to stand up or hang onto things (they're not old and they're all from the same litter) and I've called the store I bought them from but they don't know what to do. They told me to just lay her on the plants I have for them to eat and let her be in peace. But I am very concerned as to what this might be as she looks completely normal. Any suggestions on what to do?
Your stick insect is not well and is probably dying. Not having the "strength to stand up or hang onto things" is serious and not normal. The kindest action is to lay her on a wet leaf so she can drink, this will ease her final days. If you had said your stick insect was resting on the side of the cage but not eating, that would be normal behaviour for a stick insect preparing to undergo a skin-change (ecdysis). But the fact she is so weak indicates this is not the situation here and she is doomed.

Our colony of stick insects has now reached twenty two and so we'll be getting another ELC cage soon. They are all Pink Winged stick insects, eighteen nymphs and the original four adults, those ones are still OK but slowing down and losing the "stick" on their feet , so we are prepared for the sadness that they're coming to the end. My question is about one of the nymphs, she's third instar but only has five legs, it's a mystery how/why she lost it. Is there time for her to regrow a useful leg?
Great to hear that you are rearing your second generation of Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus). And yes, the classic symptoms of old age in this species are: loss of stickiness in their feet (the front feet are affected first), reduced activity (including flying), and darker body colouration. Sometimes a leg can be lost due to a bad skin-change, a fall, or even a scuffle with another stick insect. As the affected nymph is third instar, she has another four skin-changes to complete. The regenerated leg will be very small after the first of these skin-changes, but will increase in size and function during subsequent ones. So by the time this stick insect is adult (equivalent to seventh instar), she will have a little leg, that won't be as large as her other legs, but will have all the features of a leg and be functional.

I have kept Indian stick insects as pets for many years with them regularly laying eggs and reproducing. I understand that they are virtually always female and reproduction is parthenogenetic. I currently have one subadult that looks very different to its ‘siblings’. Much thinner and darker (bottom right in photo). Could this be a male?
Congratulations! The photo you sent is of an adult male Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus). He looks nice and healthy and so keep him in the same cage as the adult females, so he can mate. This happens at night. The probability of a male Indian stick insect occuring is very rare, 1 in every 10000, so look after him!

I have a female Sungaya inexpectata who I am unsure whether is suffering. She is an older insect - she would have hatched around June 2021. I noticed a few weeks ago she wasn't climbing any more, so I moved her to my tank of oldies, and she then lost her two front legs in quick succession. She is in a tank on her own with leaves and water on the ground. However, I've not seen any evidence of her eating for over a week now. She seems to take up misted water, and is opening her mouthparts as if looking for food, but doesn't seem to eat any. I've tried different food sources, tried cutting the leaves up, but nothing. Do you think she is suffering? Is it kinder to let her go?
The photo you sent shows she is an old stick insect, dying from old age. Her mouthparts are open and moving because she wants to drink water. Dying stick insects appreciate extra water to drink, so it's best to put a very shallow dish of cold tap water in front of her mouth and then gently press her head downwards so her mouth is in the water. A jam jar lid is a suitable shallow container if you don't have our Water Dish. She is not suffering, she is naturally dying, so it's best to just to ease her final days by giving her extra water to drink. Don't pester her to eat, she just wants to drink and die in peace.

I have just been listening to "Nature Table" on Radio 4, which included an item on stick insects. It was quite bizarre, mainly about sexual dimorphism and mating, talking about one species where male and female can remain joined for 79 days! Sounds unlikely?
There is a species of stick insect, Nuichua rabaeyae, from Vietnam, which is most unusual because the adults mate for months at a time. Of course it's not a precise 79 days, but it is months, indeed I currently have a pair of adults and they have been coupled for several months. One of the benefits of keeping stick insects is the enjoyment of frequently handling them. Obviously you don't want to disturb them during mating, so that is why Small-Life Supplies don't recommend keeping Nuichua rabaeyae stick insects as pets.

Is there still time to purchase an ELC stick insect cage bundle and have it delivered by Christmas? I am in Nottingham and my son is bug crazy and has been given some Sunny stick insects by his science teacher. Also, I'm in and out a lot, due to work, so what happens if I'm not in when the delivery van arrives?
Yes, ELC cages and ELC cage bundles are being dispatched nationwide throughout next week. Delivery is by a reputable 24 next-day courier and you'll be emailed the delivery tracking details so you can see the approximate time of delivery. Please let us know your "safe place" so the driver can leave your parcel there if you are not in. It is great that your son has a good science teacher who is encouraging his interest in stick insects; the "Sunny" stick insects are native to The Philippines and their Latin species name is Sungaya inexpectata. These stick insects eat bramble/blackberry leaves and do well in the ELC cage.

The bramble leaves have spots on, is this an issue for my stick insects?
Try to find the best quality bramble/blackberry leaves that you can to feed to your stick insects. There are different types of bramble growing wild in the UK, some types fare better through the winter than others, so it's best to try and find several sources of wild growing bramble rather than just being dependent on one location. A few spots on the bramble leaves doesn't matter, but avoid leaves that are covered in blotches, or are yellow or brown. The best leaves are dark green and look juicy rather than looking dry and thin.

Should I leave the heating on at night for our stick insects? I checked the temperature this morning when I woke up and it was only 13 degrees. It's set to be 21 degrees during the day. We have Indian stick insects and want the best for them, they are part of our family.
A night time temperature of 13 degrees Celsius is fine for Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus), here at Small-Life Supplies we have the night time thermostat set to 12 degrees Celsius. So you don't need to change your night time settings unless you notice it drops below 12 degrees when you check in the morning. A day time temperature of 21 degrees Celsius is OK for stick insects, we have ours a bit cooler at 18 degrees Celsius, but Indian stick insects are fine in daytime temperature range of 18-21 degrees Celsius.

Can Indian stick insects eat ivy leaves? And can I get some Indian stick insects delivered before Christmas? I'm in York.
Our Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) usually aren't too keen on eating ivy leaves. So it's much better to feed Indian stick insects with bramble/blackberry leaves (found in overgrown areas, woods, railway embankments, by canals). Currently the UK is forecast to experience ten days of freezing overnight temperatures which means we cannot dispatch stick insects because it is too cold for them to survive. Local same-day deliveries to parts of Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Lincolnshire are unaffected. Please contact Small-Life Supplies this weekend so we can advise on latest weather forecast for York, but be prepared that if it's forecast to be too cold then we are unable to supply the stick insects to you before Christmas.

We would like some stick insects for Christmas, and your ELC cage bundle as well. Please can you confirm that this cage has good visibility and isn't opaque?
The ELC cage has a crystal clear front, back and roof and so visibility is excellent. Small-Life Supplies manufacture the ELC cage in the UK to the highest standards, and indeed we use lots of ELC cages to breed stick insects for resale. To get maximum enjoyment from keeping stick insects it is essential to be able to easily see them clearly. So we wouldn't even consider producing a cage with viewing panels that were cloudy.

I've got lots of silkmoth larvae, which urgently need a larger cage. Would the ELC cage be suitable for silkmoth larvae? They are Rothschildia erycina.
Yes, you keep the young larvae in the HAP and then when they are a bit bigger you transfer them to the ELC cage. They do well in a ventilated cage and the ELC cage has two mesh sides which give a through-draught of air which is ideal for silkmoth caterpillars (larvae). The fully grown larvae spin their silk cocoons on the mesh sides of the ELC cage, or some may spin their cocoons between stems of the foodplant. The ELC cage is supplied ready made and so you can use it straight away. The caterpillars must be kept in clean surroundings and so it's really important to change the paper Liner on the floor of the ELC cage frequently.

We are so happy as our children's Indian stick insect eggs have HATCHED. Hurray. Just hatched today. We have them in the little pot we purchased from you. Can you kindly remind us what next? I can't locate the document that came with the breeding pot. A lot of joy here!
Congratulations on your baby stick insects! They need a wet bramble leaf, so place this in the HAP pot. It's best to slant the leaf in the HAP, the correct side up, so the top of the leaf is wet. Baby Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) are thirsty and need to drink from the water droplets on top of the leaf. Every few days replace this leaf with a fresh wet bramble (blackberry) leaf. After about six weeks or so, the Indian stick insects will be much larger and when they have a total body length (including outstretched front legs) of 3.5cm they can be transferred to the ELC cage.

Can you ship live walking sticks/stick insects or stick insect eggs to the US?
No, because the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) prohibits the import of non-native insects and eggs, and so that is why Small-Life Supplies does not export livestock or eggs to the USA. None of the stick insects we breed are native to the US, they are tropical species, native to India, Thailand, Australia, Madagascar etc (although of course we take none from the wild but instead have been captive breeding them here in the UK for decades). So you'd need to source a local breeder in your state in the US. There are some native American stick insects, the Diapheromera femorata make suitable pets, but the Anisomorpha buprestoides (the Florida stick insect) should be avoided at all costs because it is a dangerous stick insect that can cause temporary blindness in people and pets with its harmful chemical spray!

The stick insect enclosure needs to be tall, right? It makes me sad that some people are still flogging 30cm or even 25cm high tanks.
A tall cage (46cm or 18") is essential for the successful rearing of stick insects. This is because stick insects slide vertically downwards out of their old skins and so need lots of height to be able to do this properly. The ELC cage, which is manufactured in the UK by Small-Life Supplies, is 51cm high and so provides plenty of height for stick insects to grow successfully. It is cruel to house stick insects in squat tanks because their surroundings are too cramped and this results in deformed stick insects which have curved bodies instead of straight bodies.

We are so pleased with our Indian stick insects and equipment bought from you, thank you. Just wondering if you recommend a form of heat pad/lamp suitable for the cage? My daughters bedroom is pretty cold.
Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) do well if the daytime temperature is 18-21 degrees Celsius during the day and no lower than 12 degrees Celsius at night. So you could measure the temperature in the bedroom to check if it is too cold. If it is, then you could relocate the stick insects and ELC cage to a warmer room in your home. Or, if your daughter wants to carry on keeping stick insects in her bedroom, then an additional heat source will be needed. Heat pads and lamps are best avoided because they can dry up the foliage in the cage (and may also distort the plastic panels in the ELC cage). A much better heat source is a portable 500 Watt oil-filled radiator. Just plug this into a wall socket approximately 50cm from the white mesh side of the ELC cage. The 500 Watt oil-filled radiator emits a gentle warmth and is safe, effective, and economical to use. More powerful versions are available, but the 500 watt model works best for a cage of stick insects. UK nationwide delivery is available, here is the link: https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/heaters-radiators/7126073.

Our son has just been diagnosed as having ASD and we're wondering if stick insects make good pets for children with autism? He's always the first to notice any spiders!
Yes, interacting with pet stick insects reduces anxiety which is advantageous to all, especially those with autism. It's great that your son is already interested in the natural world and keeping stick insects will give him an opportunity to engage with stick insects and learn more about them and insects in general. If he excels at paying attention to detail, he will enjoy examining the stick insects, their shed skins (exuviae) and their eggs.

Our class had a vote on a new school pet and giant silkmoths was the winner! Unfortunately the school budget is so very tight, I am really hoping you may be able to help us out a bit? We'd like the ELC cage bundle and some of the caterpillars of the Indian Eri silkmoth. Fortunately we have a big privet hedge by the school car park, so feeding them will be easy!
The ELC cage is great for housing the medium-sized and large Indian Eri silkmoth caterpillars (Samia ricini). The students can watch the fully grown caterpillars spin their silk cocoons on the sides of the ELC cage. And when the giant adult silkmoths emerge, the females will glue their eggs on the white mesh sides of the cage. You can save £12 if you request an ELC bundle that is "grade B", the items are still brand new, but there are some scratches which is why the discount has been applied. Please phone 01733 203358 to check availability of the "grade B" ELC bundles.

How many stick insects should we start with? Also, we'd like Indian ones and my daughter wants to know if they are all identical clones, how she can give them names?
A pack of four Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) is a good number to start with, Small-Life Supplies deliver nationwide and you'll receive four adult stick insects. When we send them, we always try to include ones that look slightly different so you can easily tell them apart. So they are slightly different sizes and vary in colour, most are green, but others can be light brown. And of course their behaviours are different, some individuals are very lively, others less so. Indian stick insects reproduce by parthenogenesis which means most females lay eggs (without mating first) and these eggs hatch into more females. Male Indian stick insects are extremely rare (1 male for every 10000 females). So it is incorrect to think Indian stick insects are clones. The best housing for Indian stick insects is the ELC cage which has been purpose designed for stick insects and has been manufactured in the UK for the last ten years, so is being widely used successfully across the UK.

The baby Giant African Land Snails that we got from you are doing really great, they are super cute and it's so calming to watch them sliding around. I was walking the dog earlier today and noticed some lush dandelion leaves on the verge. It's my regular dog walking route so I'm wondering next time if I should I pick a leaf for our snails?
Yes, young Giant African Land Snails (Achatina fulica) like eating fresh dandelion leaves. Here at Small-Life Supplies, we give our snails fresh dandelion leaves and they eat them straight away! When you have picked your leaf, remember to hold it under a running tap of cold tap water for about a minute to wash off any animal urine or dirt particles. And only pick one leaf per week because this will encourage the dandelion plant to grow more leaves. It is a mistake to take too many leaves at once because this overwhelms the dandelion plant and it responds by producing very small leaves. We have found that the snails prefer to eat the larger dandelion leaves and so it is best to harvest dandelion leaves very sparingly.

I've got some spare time and would like to do something constructive to help the environment. I support direct action but wouldn't want to put myself at risk of being arrested, so I am hoping you may be able to suggest something less dramatic that I could do but that would make a difference. I live in Cambridgeshire, UK.
There is an effective movement to stop pesticide usage in the UK, especially aimed at councils that routinely spray pesticides over paths and verges. For more details in your area see: https://www.pesticidefreecambridge.org This organisation asks Cambridge City and County councils to "get herbicides off our streets". Using reasoned argument and fact based evidence, they have had some notable successes in this endeavour in recent years, and continue to be pro-active to promote more nature and better health for people.

Does the ELC cage come in a larger size?
No, so the dimensions of the ELC cage are: Height 51cm, 20". Width 36.5cm, 14½" and Depth 27.5cm, 10¾".The ELC cage is the perfect size for most commonly kept species of stick insect, including Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) and Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus). And remember that correct ventilation is key to keeping your stick insects healthy, and the ELC cage has been designed with the optimum ventilation. Here at Small-Life Supplies we use lots of ELC cages to breed our stick insects successfully.

I would like to purchase stick insects for Christmas. How do I do this?
Please phone Small-Life Supplies on 01733 203358 or email cindi@small-life.co.uk to arrange this. Most people choose the ELC bundle and a set of four Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus), but we are happy to offer further advice if needed. For example if you wanted to add a couple of Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus) to live with the Indian stick insects in the same ELC cage, that combination works well.

What detergent should I use to clean the ELC cage? Would Fairy Liquid be OK?
Fairy Liquid is OK for removing minor stains, but you'll need something stronger for more stubborn stains. Here at Small-Life Supplies we use diluted bleach on both the clear plastic panels and the white mesh plastic panels. It is very important to check the temperature of the water to make sure that you only use lukewarm water or cold water. This is because hot water will permanently distort the plastic panels. Use the soft Cleaning Sponge (supplied as part of the ELC bundle) to wash the ELC cage. Always rinse well with cold tap water and dry with a soft cotton tea towel.

Please can you update us on the status of the giant silkmoth caterpillars? My daughter has been wanting some for ages!
The good news is that our latest generation of giant Indian Eri silkmoth caterpillars (Samia ricini) is now up to size and ready to be dispatched next week. We wait until the caterpillars have changed colour from green to white because this is the stage at which they are robust and can travel safely. These caterpillars eat fresh green privet leaves and will grow dramatically over the next few weeks. Details will be added to the website within the next few days.

What stick insects is the ELC cage for?
The ELC cage is suitable for many of the commonly kept species of stick insect including the Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus), Pink Winged stick insect (Sipyloidea sipylus), Thailand stick insect (Baculum thaii), New Guinea stick insect (Eurycantha calcarata), Macleays Spectre stick insect (Extatosoma tiaratum)... and many more. However if you have extremely long stick insects, for example the 28cm long North East Vietnamese stick insect (Medauromorpha regina), then the ELC cage is only suitable for their nymphs (immature insects) and you'd need the taller AUC cage to accommodate the very long adults.

My 13 y.o. son would love some stick insects as pets. I guess Indian stick insects would be a good starter type? Can we add another species too, or is it best to stick with one type? We'll be getting your ELC bundle as it looks the business!
Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) are highly recommended, they are easy to handle and feed (they eat bramble/blackberry) leaves, and thrive in the ELC cage. There is room in the ELC cage to add another species, the Thailand stick insects (Baculum thaii) are a popular choice because they are very lively. Or the Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus) are a pretty variety that can actually fly a few metres when they are fully grown and have their wings. They all eat bramble/blackberry leaves and live together happily. More details of all these species are in the book, "Keeping Stick Insects" by Dorothy Floyd, and all are suitable for a thirteen year old who wants to look after his stick insects properly.

Do I need to buy a fan? I would like to get some Pink Winged stick insects and have been told they need through draught ventilation. Also, do you sell the winged adults?
Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus) do best if housed in a stick insect cage with two full mesh sides opposite each other, because this enables natural through draught ventilation. So no, a fan is not needed. The ELC cage has two full mesh sides (these are not flimsy fabric but strong plastic with specially made holes), these walls are opposite each other, so the ELC cage is the ideal enclosure for Pink Winged stick insects (and many other species of stick insect too!). Small-Life Supplies breeds and sells Pink Winged stick insects, they are sold in packs of two. Pink Winged stick insects get their wings as adults but stick insects with wings get stressed easily and so we do not dispatch adult Pink Winged stick insects. Instead, only the Pink Winged stick insect nymphs (immature insects) are available for nationwide delivery. You can request medium-sized or large nymphs (they are the same price), the latter will have their wings in a few weeks time. Live arrival is guaranteed.

Have you read Cambridge University's research (Gillis) on colour change on Andaman Island stick insects (Sceptrophasma hispidulum)? Have you observed this too?
Yes, that work was done a couple of years ago and records that species of stick insect darken in colour at night after 9pm. The colour change is completed within the hour. The experiment showed that the colour change was due to changes in light conditions and is not due to circadian control. Here at Small-Life Supplies when we have been working late, we have noticed that some species of stick insect change colour at night too. The degree to which the stick insects darken depends on the species, the colour change in the Malaysian stick insect Heteropteryx dilatata, being really pronounced.

Our stick insects really are so interesting to watch, especially the Thailand ones. We’ve got lots of eggs - the Indian ones are easy to spot, I think the Thailand eggs are sort of longer and flatter? It would be nice to hatch some nymphs in the HAP but I wasn’t sure how many to save as I don’t want to be overrun!
Yes, eggs of Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) are round and brown, whereas eggs of Thailand stick insects (Baculum thaii) are longer and flatter and are an irregular shape. The hatching success of eggs of both species is very high and so it's important not to save too many eggs. A good tip to encourage successful hatching of the Thailand stick insect eggs is to add some stick insect frass (poo/droppings) into the HAP containing the eggs. Don't do this with the Indian stick insect eggs, they will hatch successfully if stored in the HAP with nothing else added. On average, Thailand stick insect eggs hatch after two months and Indian stick insect eggs hatch after four months.

How often should I clean out my stick insects?
Stick insects should be kept in clean surroundings and the easiest way to achieve this is to replace the ELC cage Liner every week. This also provides the ideal opportunity to save a few of the stick insect eggs (and dispose of any unwanted eggs). Once a month it is a good idea to wipe down the clear viewing panels on the ELC cage using the soft Cleaning Sponge and lukewarm or cold soapy water. Rinse well with cold tap water and dry the cage with a soft cotton tea towel.

Earlier this year my stick insect died unexpectedly and now I realise it was probably because I fed her with fresh bramble shoots. I've got another stick insect now and don't want to repeat this mistake, so please tell me how I know when the bramble is safe to eat?
The issue of the fresh bramble shoots occurs in Springtime when the old bramble leaves die back to make way for the new bramble shoots. Although these small pale green soft bramble leaves look tempting, they are best avoided because they can contain toxins that can harm stick insects. So always pull off these new shoots and give your stick insect the older dark green leaves instead (even if they look past their best). The problem resolves itself in a few weeks because when the new bramble leaves have grown to a length of 3cm they are safe for the stick insects to eat. It is always best to have multiple locations of wild growing bramble/blackberry bushes because they all grow at slightly different rates, making it easier for you to harvest suitable leaves.

I’ve got some adult Indian stick insects in an ELC cage. There are 5 in there, and they’re definitely getting up there in age; we’ve already got a lot of eggs from them sitting in HAPs. It’s now quite late at night and quiet, and I’m stood in my kitchen where the stick insects live. I started hearing the occasional tiny crashing noise. I looked in the tank and the stick insects are being very active, walking around. But the little crashes are them falling off of the clear plastic or mesh and landing on the floor! They don’t seem too bothered by it, and just get back up and carry on. Is this normal? Could it be an indication that I’m doing something wrong, or that they’re coming towards the end of their lives?
Stick insects have claws and sticky pads on their feet and as they age, their sticky pads become less effective, resulting in increased falls amongst elderly stick insects due to loss of grip. Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) live for approximately one year and can show signs of deteriorating grip during the last weeks of their lives. Very old stick insects are also more thirsty than younger adults, so it would be a good idea to mist the bramble (blackberry) leaves a bit more generously during the next couple of weeks. Indian stick insects like to have a drink in the late afternoon/early evening and so that is the best time to mist the leaves lightly with cold tap water from the Mister Swivel. Don't over spray though (you'll know if you are spraying too much water because the ELC Liner will start to curl up).

We really enjoyed your YouTube video about the fast moving Buff Ermine caterpillar! We have a checklist of caterpillars but we've never seen one of these before (we live in Bedford).
Yes, this action video is our most popular one so far! The caterpillars featured in it went on to become lovely pale yellow furry British Buff Ermine Moths (Spilosoma lutea). Their eggs have now hatched into the next generation of fast moving furry caterpillars. The original caterpillars ate ragwort leaves, but this generation seems less fussy and is eating buddleia leaves as well. The populations of different species of butterfly and moth vary considerably from year to year and it looks like 2022 was a good year for Buff Ermine Moths, indeed it was the first time I have ever seen them.

Where can I get stick insects for Christmas?
You can order stick insects from Small-Life Supplies now and ask for delivery nearer to Christmas. Most Christmas orders are dispatched the third week in December and it's highly recommended to order early. Stick insects are easy to look after and so it's easy to hide them and look after them in the ELC stick insect cage until you gift them on Christmas Day.

I was watching cBBC's Newsround with my grandson and they featured a young man from the museum to answer a question sent in by a young viewer asking why do trees live so long? I was surprised at his answer, saying that it was all to do with lifespans and oak trees live for 500-1000 years because they are not eaten? And then he showed a massive shark (or whale?) saying they had long lifespans because nothing would want to eat them either! And then he said insects only live a few days because they are eaten, all this whilst cartoon spiders were walking in the background! Your thoughts please.
The answer is to do with how different plants and animals (which include insects) have evolved. Some plants have short lifespans, indeed many gardeners will be familiar with "annuals" which means the plant only lives one year, whereas "perennials" keep going year after year. Some trees, like oak trees, have very long lifespans of hundreds of years, but it is incorrect to say they are not eaten. One oak tree is home to hundreds of species of insect (approx 500 species) and of course these insects eat the leaves and suck the sap. The point is that the tree has evolved to withstand these onslaughts (by having fine tuned its metabolism). There are fundamental differences between insects and spiders, the two most obvious being number of legs and number of body divisions - insects have six legs and a body divided into three, whereas spiders have eight legs and two main body parts. So it's misleading to feature cartoon spiders if someone is talking about insects. There are colossal numbers of insect species and these have evolved to survive in many different ways. Many common insects (such as greenbottle flies) live for a few weeks. Many butterflies and moths live for a few months (remember that these insects have to grow as caterpillars and then metamorphosise within their pupae before emerging as winged adults). Many stick insects live at least one year, indeed the New Guinea stick insect (Eurycantha calcarata) often lives for three years.

I read in "new scientist" magazine that the Australian millipede, Eumillipes persephone, has 1306 legs. I googled for more info and it says this millipede lives underground. I have a giant Congo millipede and it rests on the wall of the cage. I haven't counted but I don't think it has a thousand legs!
The giant millipedes kept as pets include the Giant Congo millipede. These are classified as belonging to the order Spirostripdita and grow to 18cm long! Small-Life Supplies used to breed these giant millipedes and found they liked to climb, and I have seen millipedes in the wild resting vertically high up on tree trunks too. Most millipedes don't have a thousand legs, and the males have fewer legs than the females (their mating apparatus replaces where the missing legs would be). The Australian millipede you mention is newsworthy because it does actually have over one thousand legs!

Precocious puberty in phasmids? My five month old Sungaya inexpectata nymph seems to have a large ovipositor at the end of her tail, despite the fact that she is not yet fully grown. In contrast, her mother didn't have an ovipositor until the age of eight months. This seems like very unusual behaviour, especially since she was produced by parthenogenesis. Is this normal? Is this her maximum size? Will she ever lay fertile eggs? I'll attach a picture.
It is normal for the ovipositor to be obvious in the female nymphs of some species of stick insect, including the Sabah stick insect (Aretaon asperrimus), New Guinea stick insect (Eurycantha calcarata), and the Philippine stick insect (Sungaya inexpectata). The Malaysian stick insect (Heteropteryx dilatata) is very unusual because the ovipositor is obvious in the first instar which means this species can be sexed from birth. But for the other species, it becomes more obvious at later instars, so as the stick insects grow it becomes obvious what gender they are. There is natural variation amongst the size of the ovipositors within a species of stick insect. Looking at your photo, I can see that your current Sungaya inexpectata nymph has a perfect ovipositor that is not deformed, so she will be fine and there is no cause for concern. Perhaps your original female damaged her ovipositor when young which is why it only became noticeable when she much older and had been able to grow it back. (Or it is possible she might have just had an ovipositor that was naturally smaller than average).

I am so glad I have found a UK supplier of clip cages for aphids. Our purchasing department has a "Socially Responsible Procurement Policy" and so please confirm I can say that these Clip Cages are produced in the UK by a small business.
Yes, Small-Life Supplies manufacture Clip Cages in the UK. These Clip Cages are being used for aphid research outdoors. Our Clip Cages only weigh 8g so are lightweight and have been designed so they clip over a leaf containing aphids with minimal damage to the leaf. The three point fixing system prevents escapees and the clear viewing areas enable easy observation of the contents.

Can I keep Indian stick insects and Pink Winged stick insects together?
Yes, both species live together happily in the ELC stick insect cage. The Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) eats bramble (blackberry) leaves and so does the Pink Winged stick insect (Sipyloidea sipylus). The ELC stick insect cage easily accommodates four of each type of stick insect (they do best in small groups) and both species are easy to breed, so you can look forward to hatching a few eggs of the next generation.

There's a weird insect on my wall, it is T shaped and cream. I attach a photo. Could it be a stick insect? I live in Derby (UK).
No, it's not a stick insect, it is a Plume Moth. These are British moths that look very distinctive because they rest with their wings tightly folded up, sticking out at right angles to the body. We have uploaded a photo of a British Plume Moth on the Small-Life Supplies Facebook page, because this question is being asked a lot at the moment! You won't see stick insects living wild in Derby because it is far too cold for them to survive outdoors in the Midlands. There are some stick insects that have naturalised populations in the far South West of the UK, those stick insects arrived on cargo ships from New Zealand in the early 1900s and have become established there. These stick insect species are Acanthoxyla prasina and the smoother bodied Acanthoxyla inermis.

I keep reading that females of sexual species of phasmids that revert to parthenogenetic reproduction when no males are present, can only lay eggs that will only hatch into females. But is this correct? Even species known to be primarily parthenogenetic, such as Carausius morosus and Sipyloidea sipylus can produce males.
I have changed my view on this, based on personal communications from trusted individuals who have studied and reared females of Australian Macleays Spectre (Extatosoma tiaratum) with no males ever present. Although the vast majority of their parthenogenetically produced eggs hatch into females (as expected) there are occasional males too! And you are correct in highlighting that occasional males occur in cultures of stick insects that normally reproduce by parthenogenesis. Here at Small-Life Supplies, we have a really rare male Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) at the moment, but it has been years since we have witnessed a male Pink Winged stick insect (Sipyloidea sipylus) in our breeding stocks (male Pink Winged stick insects are even rarer than male Indian stick insects).

I have never seen an adult male Indian stick insect and I was wondering how often you see them in your breeding programmes and what kind of price one would fetch alive?
Here at Small-Life Supplies, we breed large numbers of Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) and only very occasionally see an adult male. The published estimate of 1 male for every 10000 females is approximately correct. The male Indian stick insect has a slim body, is tan, has a red underside to the thorax and two red sloping marks on top of the thorax. His antennae are longer and he is hyperactive. His green genitalia are not visible until just before (and during) mating with a female. We are delighted to have one Indian male stick insect at the moment, but because he is so rare, he is priceless and so is not for sale!

My daughter wants some stick insects for school and I've been tasked with looking at the different housing options. I don't want glass but I don't want flimsy netting either. I am very tempted by the ELC cage. Would this be suitable for a school environment? They are year 6.
Year 6 equates to 10 and 11 year olds in England, at key stage 2. The ELC stick insect cage has been in production for the last ten years and lots of primary schools in the UK are successfully keeping stick insects in ELC stick insect cages. So this is an excellent choice for your daughter. The ELC cage is supplied ready assembled and so can be used straight away. And the stick insects can be sent at the same time, to minimise on delivery costs.

I got back from work today to find my miserable neighbour has cut the tops off my bramble plants and thrown the cuttings over my fence! My plants had been doing really well and had recently just gone over the top of the 6ft fence. He must have reached over the fence to do this, that is not OK is it?
The recent rain in the UK has caused the bramble (blackberry) plants to have a surge in growth, resulting in lush green leaves and tall stems. Growing your own bramble outside by a fence is an excellent way to ensure you have a convenient back-up food supply for your stick insects. However, some neighbours do not like plants growing over the boundary into their garden space. The law in England allows such people to cut any overhanging stems, providing they return the cut stems (otherwise it is classed as "theft"!). So, if any of your bramble was swaying over the fence boundary, your neighbour has the legal right to cut them off and throw them back to you. However he has no legal right to reach over the boundary and enter your garden space without your permission, so I would certainly challenge him on that if you ever spot him doing that. Meanwhile, your bramble plants will be OK, but I'd recommend you keep a better check on them and be ready to snip off and use any extra tall bits before they encroach on your neighbour's space!

I'm still avoiding public events due to COVID concerns, but am managing to catch up a bit with what's going on by watching YouTube videos posted by people who have been able to turn up. The shows don't seem very busy though, either with stands or visitors. My question is which is the next insect show you are exhibiting at?
Small-Life Supplies are participating at the Cambridge natural history event on 24th November 2022. This is an on-line event, with a wide range of exhibits promoting the natural world.

Do stick insects wash?
Yes, stick insects wash their antennae. This is because stick insects' antennae are full of sensory hairs which convey information about the surroundings to the brain of the stick insect. So it is essential that the antennae are kept clean so they can input the data properly. A stick insect washes one antenna at a time by passing it through its wet mouth, using it's front foot to guide the antenna. Occasionally feet are washed in a similar manner. Stick insects don't wash other parts of their bodies. However if the stick insect has lots of granules of soil or sand on its body it will climb into a shallow dish of water to rid itself of this dirt.

Can I buy just one Indian stick insect for my son? It would be his first pet.
It is not recommended to keep a stick insect by itself. This is because stick insects like company of their own kind and often rest together in groups in the ELC stick insect cage. So Small-Life Supplies sell Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) in packs of four. Indian stick insects would be a good choice for your son, these stick insects are easy to look after, they eat bramble/blackberry leaves, and are suitable for handling.

I take it that Pink Winged stick insects actually fly? How easy is it to get them back again?
Yes, adult Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus) fly and it is a good idea to take them out of the ELC cage and let them fly across the room about once a week. Some Pink Winged stick insects are keener to fly than others, so you need to adjust the flying schedule accordingly! The flight is relatively slow (much slower than a budgie) and the Pink Winged stick insect usually lands on the wall. It is easy to scoop the stick insect from the wall and put her back in the ELC stick insect cage. Stick insects are usually thirsty after flying and so remember to lightly mist the bramble (blackberry) leaves with cold tap water so the stick insect can have a drink.

We are enjoying our new pets, Indian stick insects, named Lucy, Ella, Kelly and Daisy. My son, Kieron, who's eight, loves having them walk up his sleeve! Anyways, today Ella fell off his elbow and landed on the floor (the right way up, fortunately!) and when I scooped her up, there was orange liquid from her mouth, is this stick insect sick? And will she be OK? She seems fine but I'm new to this so can't be sure!
I am glad your Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) are settling into their new home and Kieron is enjoying handling them. In the wild, stick insects sometimes fall off twigs and branches, and these stick insects have evolved to land on their feet, so they can quickly run away to safety. If they are startled, Indian stick insects also have another defence which is to exude an orange liquid form their mouths. So this is not sick, but a defensive fluid that the stick insect can quickly release from her mouth, as necessary. Ella has recovered from her fall and so there is no cause for further concern.

Will Small-Life Supplies be at any invert events this year? I could do with another ELC cage.
Unfortunately the "invert" (invertebrate) shows in the UK are now almost exclusively full of spider related stands, and so do not attract visitors interested in stick insects and caterpillars. So no, Small-Life Supplies is not exhibiting at these events this year. Small-Life Supplies continues to dispatch ELC stick insect cages daily to customers across mainland UK. And if you are looking for a real bargain, please phone Small-Life Supplies on 01733 203358 to see if there are any used ELC cages available, these are in very good condition and are cut-price!

Some of my snail eggs have hatched, I've counted ten so far. They are super cute. Do I feed them the same as their parents? Or do they need extra nutrition? They are Giant East African Land Snails.
Here at Small-Life Supplies we start our baby Giant African Land Snails (Achatina fulica) off by feeding them potato peelings. Then after a week, we add carrot peelings, and after another week introduce courgette and rinsed out hen eggshells (an excellent source of calcium). It's important to ensure the peelings are fresh because mould (and flies) soon appear on rotting food and snails should not be exposed to these. As the snails grow, other food (such as marrow, dandelion, red pepper, sweet potato, pear) can be added to their diet, because studies have shown that a varied diet promotes a nicely patterned shell. But in the first few weeks, it's best to stick with potato, carrot and courgette, and the rinsed out hen eggshells.

Please can you tell me how long it's likely to take to have 6 of your new Insect Observation Cages made to order? The lab trial is scheduled to start in November and so I need to know if it's feasible to expect delivery before then? I know some factories are experiencing hold ups with components.
Small-Life Supplies have all the components for our new small Insect Observation Cages in stock. The lead time on producing six of these new Insect Observation Cages is currently two weeks. The cages are then dispatched for next day delivery. Please note that we require payment with order, and sometimes this is where delays can occur, for example if Small-Life Supplies is not already on your approved supplier list, or if your finance department is slow at paying pro-forma invoices. So it's helpful if you can liaise directly with your finance department and stress the urgency for prompt payment. You can then rest assured you will receive the cages ahead of the start date of the lab trial.

On the bottom of my stick insect cage should I use paper like normal drawing paper or tissue paper?
Drawing paper or copier paper or A4 refill pad paper are all suitable. Tissue paper is too thin. Avoid kitchen roll because it's too absorbent and dries up the surroundings. Pre-cut ELC Liners fit the ELC stick insect cage and are available in three colour options: blue, pink and green.

With prices rising, could I pay for a ELC stick insect cage bundle now and request delivery just before Christmas? I live in Harpenden and this would be a perfect gift for my sister who is wanting a better enclosure for her Pink Winged stick insects.
The ELC stick insect cage is ideal housing for Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus). All orders are dispatched quickly, within days, and so if you ordered the ELC stick insect cage bundle next week, you would receive it well before the end of September. So you'd need to store it at your home until gifting it to your sister at Christmas. It is not possible to purchase at today's prices and request delivery three months later. This is because high inflation means our manufacturing and logistical costs keep on increasing, so it is inevitable that our prices will increase between now and Christmas.

I'm considering getting New Guinea or Thailand stick insects but I sometimes go and stay with my mum for a week at a time. Unless she can pick me up, I'd be walking for 20 mins to get a bus for 40 minutes, and I was wondering about the options of leaving them alone for a week or possibly taking them with me on the bus in a box and then putting them in another ELC. Do either of these breeds cope well with being carried around and moved into a different home? Are New Guinea ones likely to becomes upset/aggressive by any changes such as moving around and not being handled for a week?
The ELC cage is delivered in a large strong box and you can use this box repeatedly to transport the ELC cage. Just put a bungee around the box because this makes it easy to carry on public transport, providing of course it's not too busy. Both Thailand stick insects (Baculum thaii) and New Guinea stick insects (Eurycantha calcarata) are fine being carried around, ideally transported in the large ELC cage (instead of a small box). This is what we do when we have to transport stick insects by public transport. For the twenty minute walk, you can use another bungee to strap the box to a lightweight fold up luggage trolley, it is much easier to transport the box on wheels rather than carry it. New Guinea stick insect adults often mate after a car journey, so if you choose this species, expect your adult female to be very fat with eggs! It is also important that the stick insects don't get too cold for too long, so if you turn your heating down when you are away from home, that would be another reason not to leave your stick insects home alone.

Do Pink Winged stick insects fly fast?
No, adult Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus) fly slowly. They fly angling their bodies at approximately 45 degrees and with a more or less horizontal flight path, so usually land on a wall. When the stick insect lands, it is best to put her back in the ELC cage so she doesn't overtire. The Pink Winged stick insects that Small-Life Supplies send out are medium-sized nymphs (immature insects) so they do not have their wings yet (although you can see the prominent wing buds developing on their thorax). However, after a few weeks, these stick insects will have completed more skin changes and will be fully grown. It's usually a couple of weeks after their last skin change that the Pink Winged stick insects are ready for their maiden flight. Further advice on this is in the book "Keeping Stick Insects" by Dorothy Floyd, together with illustrations showing the tell tale sign that flight is imminent!

We are so thrilled because Nessun and Dorma, our two Giant African Land Snails, have both laid their first clutch of eggs! How long do we need to wait till they hatch?
Congratulations! Our Giant African Land Snails (Achatina fulica) eggs are hatching more quickly than usual at the moment, because the surrounding temperature is warmer than usual. So ours are hatching after sixteen days. It's important to keep the eggs moist, so store them in the HAP and mix in with some damp soil. It's really obvious when the baby snails hatch because the white eggshell falls away to reveal a pale brown snail, the same size as the white egg. Feed the baby snails with potato and carrot peelings and after a few weeks transfer them to the SPONG and add rinsed out hen eggshells because these provide calcium which the snails need to consume to grow properly. When the snails have outgrown the SPONG they should be transferred to the HLQ cage. This has special easy to clean panels so the snail slime can be washed off easily, leaving your snail display looking nice.

My son (age 13 and a budding entrepreneur!) would like to sell his surplus stick insects locally and would like to offer a complete package, including the proper caging. We already use your ELC stick insect cages and wondered if you offered these at a reduced price for re-sale?
ELC stick insect cages are manufactured in the UK and production costs are high, so unfortunately Small-Life Supplies cannot offer trade discounts on new cages. However, from time to time, we do sell used ELC cages at a reduced price, these cages have been cleaned and are dispatched fully assembled in the same bespoke packaging that we use to send the new cages (so you can rest assured they will be delivered safely). The used ELC cages always sell out really quickly, but we will have some available in the next few days, so please phone Small-Life Supplies on 01733 203358 if you're interested. Happy to email you photos of the cages too, just ask for these when you call. Delivery is £9.96 for 1-2 cages, and £12.96 for 3-4 cages (provided they are all sent together to the same address in mainland UK, excluding Scottish Highlands).

Please help me with a uni question! "Give an example of how insects can adapt to extreme cold in a more effective manner than mammals".
Some insect eggs can adapt very well to extreme cold, effectively stopping development whilst the cold temperatures persist and restarting development when the outside temperature warms up. Some stick insects behave in this manner, with their eggs being able to survive extremely cold temperature of minus 18 degrees Celsius. This strategy keeps the eggs alive in extreme cold and allows the eggs to develop and hatch only when it is warm enough for the baby stick insects (nymphs) to survive.

This is an emergency. I have some Carausius morosus nymphs dying from what looks like a fungal infection. These are the symptoms: large black spots around the body, which causes body parts to fall off; extreme fatigue; what looks like a small mushroom growing out of terminal segment; then when the blackness spreads so much that the insect loses its colour, a very slow and painful death. Now I noticed that my male Heteropteryx dilatata’s reason for being tired lately was that he was infected. I am really upset and worried that he will pass it on to his very special girlfriend, the female, who is the best creature in my life. Please tell me what this terrible infection is and how to cure it quickly.
The fungal infection in the cage has been caused by the humidity in the cage being too high. It should not smell damp. You need to urgently reduce the humidity. So you should: reduce the spraying of water on the leaves, reduce the number of bramble leaves in there, ensure there is paper on the floor of the cage (and not soil/earth), and position the cage so that there is air-flow through both sides (so check that the cage is not jammed up against a wall). But before doing all of this, you need to wash the cage with lukewarm soapy water, rinse it well with cold water and dry it thoroughly with a soft tea towel.

It looks like we'll be turning our heating down this autumn, so we can pay our gas bills. So notching it down from 24 to 22 degrees. My daughter's birthday is in November and she's been asking for Pink Winged stick insects for months, so we don't want to disappoint her. Will we need any extra heating for the stick insects?
22 degrees Celsius is plenty warm enough for keeping Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus) successfully, indeed it is above the daytime temperature range of 18 -21 degrees Celsius that is recommended. So no, you won't need to provide any extra warmth for your stick insects, they will be fine in your home. Assuming you switch your heating off at night and your home has standard insulation, the night time temperature should not drop below 12 degrees Celsius, which is the recommended night time temperature for stick insects. The stick insects we breed here at Small-Life Supplies are reared at a daytime temperature of 18 -21 degrees Celsius and night time temperature of 12+ degrees Celsius.

I’ve set the ELC bundle all up and it looks great. When they shed will they hang on the side or will I need to add some mesh under the lid?
Stick insects prefer to shed their skins by hanging on the mesh side of the ELC cage and sliding downwards. This is because the stick insect knows it's much safer for it to shed its skin like this. Sliding downwards alongside the mesh wall of the cage offers far more protection than loosely dangling in the air (which is what would happen if it chose to shed from the lid). So please don't modify the ELC cage, it has been designed correctly for stick insects! Here at Small-Life Supplies we breed large numbers of stick insects in our ELC cages.

Is there more than one species of stick insect originating from Thailand?
Yes, there are several species of stick insect originating from Thailand. They have different Latin species names and the common British name often has a descriptive term. For example the "Thailand Marbled" is Parapachymorpha zomproi, the "Thailand Miniature" is Parapachymorpha spinosa, the "Thailand Straight " is Phaenopharos herwaardeni, the "New Thailand" is Baculum sp, the "Thailand Winged" is Sipyloidea sp, and the "Thailand" is Baculum thaii. Here at Small-Life Supplies we have reared them all and they are all featured in the classic stick insect "Collector Card" set. Currently, we are still rearing the Thailand stick insects and the New Thailand stick insects, both are easy to keep and eat bramble/blackberry leaves.

I have four Indian stick insects and they started producing eggs in June. I thought I'd let them get some practice in making eggs before I started saving any, so I waited till 14th July 2022 and then saved some. I was amazed today to see eight babies! How come they have hatched so quickly? Is this crazy hot weather responsible? My room has been about 28 degrees for weeks and regularly above 20 degrees at night, I'm in Ely (UK).
Indian (Carausius morosus) stick insect eggs usually take four months to hatch (at 18-21 degrees Celsius daytime temperature), but this time can be reduced to three months if the surrounding temperature is warmer. Here in the UK, we have experienced very hot outside day and night temperatures for weeks and this is responsible for reducing the incubation time even further if these eggs are stored in rooms that remain hot (like your room). Your Indian stick insects will continue to lay eggs throughout their (seven month) adult lives. The unprecedented hot spell is now over and so it is likely that if you save some of their eggs later in the year, these will develop as normal, so for example, eggs collected in November 2022 should hatch after four months, in March 2023.

I am very keen to begin keeping Stick Insects. I have access to Brambles for their food, but I also have a variety of small tree - ‘Contorted Hazel.’ Would this also be a safe source of food?
I'd recommend you start by keeping Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) because these are easy to look after and eat bramble (blackberry) leaves and hazel leaves. The hazel leaves we use here at Small-Life Supplies are harvested from trees known in the UK as the "Common Hazel", Corylus avellana. These leaves are very large and flat, so are easy for the stick insects to eat. The "Contorted Hazel" has smaller leaves that are curled and so will be more difficult for the stick insects to eat. This is because Indian stick insects eat a leaf by cutting a small semi circle from the edge of the leaf and then repeat the cutting action on this same area, enlarging the area of leaf removed each time. So although it would be safe to feed your Indian stick insects with contorted hazel leaves (providing of course that you have had the plant for at least one year so the pesticides in the soil are no longer active), the Indian stick insects would prefer to eat common hazel or bramble (blackberry) leaves simply because of their flat shape.

My Macleays Spectre stick insect eggs are finally hatching! I've got several in the HAP with some fresh eucalyptus leaves, but I have a couple of questions. I'm getting the leaves from a big tree outside, and there are different sizes of leaf, which size is best for the babies? Are the small leaves toxic like the small bramble leaves? And I've only got one HAP so if I get loads of babies, would I be best to get some more HAPs or could I put them with their old mum in the ELC cage (she's moved over to eating bramble).
Congratulations! You are doing the right thing by housing the baby Australian Macleays Spectre stick insects (Extatosoma tiaratum) in the HAP and feeding them exclusively on eucalyptus leaves. For best results, choose small tender young eucalyptus leaves. These are safe to eat by the babies (called first instar nymphs). The leaves should not be wet. Getting more HAPs would be the best option. At Small-Life Supplies, we always start rearing our young Macleays Spectre stick insects in HAPs with eucalyptus leaves. After a couple of months we transfer them to the ELC cage and only at that stage do we introduce bramble (blackberry) leaves and Photinia into the cage.

We ordered 4 young adult Indian stick insects from Small Life Supplies, and a ELC cage and pack. It arrived yesterday. We put in fresh bramble as instructed and removed the sticky covering on the top and sides. They seemed fine but this morning, one fell off a branch and hasn’t moved since. We are concerned she has died. They are my son’s, who is 9. And he is quite upset so I just wanted to get advice from you.
There is no need to be concerned, the photo you have emailed indicates that the Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) that has fallen off the branch is just in her defensive mode. When an Indian stick insect is nervous, she rapidly clamps all her legs alongside her body, falls to the ground and remains motionless for many hours. Indian stick insects usually take about a week to settle into their new surroundings. Your son can help his Indian stick insects to relax by talking to them in a calm voice (their ears are by their knees). Over the next few weeks as he handles them, his stick insects will learn to recognise him (through the sensory pads in their feet). Assuming he is a kind boy who likes his stick insects and is gentle when handling them, his stick insects should soon be active and walking confidently across his hands. The instances of them falling down and going into "straight sticks" will be much reduced, but may occur if there is a loud noise or if the ELC cage is accidentally jolted.

I would like to buy the elc cage for stick insects but can't check out on the payment link.
The payment link is for deliveries to mainland UK only, I can see that you live in Australia and so that is why it isn't working. Unfortunately the cost of shipping one ELC cage to Australia is much more expensive than the £9.96 (Great British Pounds) shipping cost within the UK. The shipping cost to the other side of the world is very high (more than the price of the cage) because of the huge physical distance between UK and Australia. However, despite this, Small-Life Supplies does send some ELC cages to Australia. So if you are prepared to pay the high shipping cost, please email us directly for a quotation of the total price, including your delivery address, so we can calculate the airmail shipping cost for you.

I'm thinking of getting Thailand stick insects and New Guinea stick insects from you. I would like to plant real plants in the tank as part of the environment (ornamental). Are there any plants you can recommend to use that won't be eaten by the insects?
It's not a good idea to mix Thailand stick insects (Baculum thaii) and New Guinea stick insects (Eurycantha calcarata) in the same cage. This is because the New Guinea stick insects are large and bulky and so can accidentally damage a thin spindly Thailand stick insect if they tread on it! Trying to grow living plants in a stick insect enclosure presents an immediate problem regarding eggs that will accummulate in the soil. When keeping stick insects, it is really important to be able to easily gather the eggs every week and responsibly dispose of any unwanted eggs (in hot water). That is why it is highly recommended to use paper sheets or pre-cut ELC Liners on the floor of the ELC stick insect cage. Stick insects can eat certain types of houseplant, so if you are determined to do this, it would actually be better to use a plant that you know would not be harmful, for example Maranta tricolor, rather than choose one that would be unpalatable. However please note that many houseplants sold commercially are grown in soil treated with pesticides (these remain active for twelve months) and so any insect that nibbles a leaf will be poisoned, twitch uncontrollably and die a few days later. So I'd recommend abandoning your proposal. Instead use the tried and tested (and very successful method) of having fresh cut stems of foodplant (bramble/blackberry) standing fresh in Sprig Pots of cold tap water, placed on a paper Liner in the purpose designed ELC stick insect cages. In addition, the cage housing the New Guinea stick insects will need a dish of drinking water, a pot of sand (for the female to bury her eggs), and some community tubes (cardboard tubes that the stick insects can rest inside).

Is it true that Indian stick insects will only eat what they ate when they were babies?
No, Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) can eat different leaves later on in life. All the Indian stick insects we breed at Small-Life Supplies are started off on wet bramble/blackberry leaves from birth. But when these stick insects are a few months old, we often supplement their diet with wild rose leaves and hazel leaves which they consume no problem! So it is a myth that they must only eat what they ate as babies (first instar nymphs).

Where did you find the collective noun "Population" for stick insects? I can find no record of this anywhere. Did you make it up?
Sometimes the same collective noun is used for different types of insects which share some similar physical characteristics, so for example, you can have a "swarm of bees" as well as a "swarm of wasps". Stick insects share some of the same physical characteristics as grasshoppers, and many years ago, both types of insect were classified as belonging to the order "Orthoptera". Since then, stick insects have been assigned their own order "Phasmida"' or "Phasmatodea". The most popular collective noun for grasshoppers is "population" and so it is logical that same term can also be applied to stick insects. Often there are several collective nouns that can be used for the same creature, in the example of grasshoppers, a scientific study in 2010 revealed the frequency with which scientists used these terms: "population" 67% , "community" 28%, "assemblage" 4% and "guild" 1%.

In last week's "new scientist" magazine, I read about researchers discovering that the Noctua pronuba moth plays a key role in pollinating the red clover (Trifolium pratense), an important wild flower in the Swiss Alps. Do we get these moths in the UK? And if so, presumably they behave the same way here?
Yes, the Noctua pronuba is a large moth with yellow hindwings, I've seen these outside, wild in the UK, and the common name is the "Large Yellow Underwing moth". The adult moths can live five months and so are important pollinators as they fly around at night feeding from certain flowers. The contribution to pollination that night flying moths make is often overlooked because most studies are focussed on day flying pollinating insects such as bees.

Did you know that a group of lobsters is called a pod? What is a group of stick insects called?
Thanks for the information on the lobsters! There are collective nouns for various groups of insects, for example a "colony" of ants, a "swarm" of bees, a "plague" of locusts, for stick insects it's "population".

I know that in the UK, hibernating animals can briefly wake up from hibernation, have a walk or fly around, before going back into hibernation again. And I know that various British insects hibernate in this manner. But what happens in very cold countries, when there is extreme cold for months? Presumably the hibernation can't be interrupted?
Yes, what you say is correct. Many British people are surprised to see a British butterfly such as the Small tortoisehell (Aglais urticae) or the Peacock butterfly (Inachis io) flying outside in the UK on a sunny day in December, but this is completely normal because the hibernating butterfly has temporarily broken its hibernation to fly about on a sunny day. In very cold countries such as Canada, where the winter temperatures can be approximately minus 20 degrees Celsius for several months, hibernating insects remain in hibernation mode throughout. Studies on the potato beetle show they manage this by drastically slowing their metabolism by 90% to save energy, achieving this by completely breaking down their mitochondria. As Spring approaches, regeneration of the mitochondria occurs.

I am curious, Professor, as to what inspired your interest in insects? Was it a single event, or watching TV nature documentaries, or something else?
No, it wasn't TV nature documentaries, but instead direct experience. I've always liked being hands-on with animals and nature, I have lots of childhood memories of planting trees and growing plants in the garden and interacting with any passing animal (dog, cat, squirrel, bird etc). At secondary school there was a "pets club" and I looked after the school guinea pigs and the stick insects. At twelve I started keeping a pet stick insect at home and from there an interest in insect photography developed. I joined the local city entomological society which had several professional entomologists as members, and they encouraged me to pursue an academic route.

What a month! Been an interesting one to say the least. I've just got into keeping caterpillars! Just the Painted Ladies ones, but I want more!
Great to hear that you enjoy keeping caterpillars, here at Small-Life Supplies we breed several easy-to-keep species. A couple of species are in stock now, and ready to send to customers nationwide as soon as the weather cools down a bit (hopefully next week). There are the British Vapourer caterpillars (Orgyia antiqua) that eat bramble/blackberry leaves, and the giant Indian Eri silkmoth caterpillars (Samia ricini) that eat privet leaves. Our very fast moving British Buff Ermine caterpillars have now entered the pupal stage, but you can see them running around in the new Small-Life Supplies You Tube video, here is the link: https://youtu.be/RjY6Rcd0SgY

How tall should a stick insect enclosure be?
At least 46cm (18"). The stick insects need a tall cage to be able to grow properly (they slide vertically downwards out of their old skins when they grow). And you need to be able to easily put a decent amount of food into the cage (the cut stems are standing in a Sprig Pot of cold tap water to keep the leaves fresh). The ELC stick insect cage is ideal for many species of stick insect, and the ELC cage is 51cm tall.

I read an article on-line which said that the Indian Eri silk moth adults, of the species Samia ricini, are routinely deformed because of all the in-breeding and showed some hideous photos of this. What are your views on this?
Here at Small-Life Supplies we breed various species of butterflies and moths, including the giant Indian Eri silk moth Samia ricini. Very occassionally adults emerge with deformed wings, but this is rare and occurs with all Lepidopteran species. So our adults are certainly not routinely deformed. As breeders, we only save eggs from perfect looking adults, this practice increases the health of the strain and so reduces the incidence of deformities caused by genetics. And we always provide the best environment for the adults to emerge from their cocoons, which involves providing twigs and plenty of space for them to stretch out their wings fully. Unfortunately some other breeders do not do this and so end up with deformed looking adults because they have not given the silk moths enough space or height to unfold their wings properly before the wings harden and are then permanently set. We also encourage our Samia ricini adults to fly around the room in the evening, and again, prioritise the breeding of the eggs from the best-flying adults because these are the healthiest individuals with the strongest genes. It is fun to see them flying around the room, they can be very good flyers and do several laps around the room. Unlike some other moths that get confused by the fluorescent lights and fly straight into them, the Samia ricini silkmoths do not, and continue to fly around the room, totally unaffected if the lights are on.

What's the tallest stick insect cage that you manufacture? I've got some North East Vietnamese stick insects in an ELC cage and they're doing great, but still growing! Do you breed North East Vietnamese stick insects and if so, what do you use for their housing?
Yes, Small-Life Supplies breed the North East Vietnamese stick insects (Medauromorpha regina). These are very impressive long stick insects (growing to 25cm) and they look interesting with big lobes on their legs. We house the nymphs in the ELC cage and then transfer the large nymphs to the AUC cage (69.5cm high) and also house the adults in the AUC cage. The North East Vietnamese stick insects females lay very long thin eggs, 1.5cm long. The AUC cage is currently on special offer, it is £88 plus delivery, please phone 01733 203358 for details. It is dispatched ready assembled, and has a black aluminium frame and wide hole blue netting on all four sides. It has a drop on lid and removable base, also disposable Liners so it's easy to keep the stick insects in clean surroundings.

Can you supply Clip Cages for aphid studies?
Yes, Small-Life Supplies manufacture Clip Cages to attach to leaves to observe aphids, please phone us on 01733 203358 for details.

My therapist suggested I get a pet and suggested a Giant African Land Snail. I've seen your HLQ snail homes, and am tempted, but I am wondering if an ELC cage and stick insects would be a cheaper option long term? I'm in a really dark place with worry about money issues and am on a very low income.
Looking after a pet can be great for people's mental health, so it sounds like you have a good therapist. Keeping busy and focussing on the needs of others is a well recognised technique to stop you worrying about your own issues. Getting outside in the fresh air is also beneficial to human well-being. And if you keep stick insects you have the perfect excuse for going outside once a week to collect bramble (blackberry) leaves from overgrown areas, to feed to your stick insects. It's easy to relate to a pet if you handle and talk to it regularly, and this applies to both snails and stick insects. Giant African Land Snails eat vegetables, so many people purchase these from supermarkets or greengrocers. The snails also need to consume calcium and this is best supplied as empty hen eggshells (broken in half and rinsed out with cold tap water), two eggshells per week. As you are on a tight budget, I'd recommend you choose the stick insect option because they are cheaper to look after. You can talk to stick insects in a calm voice, their ears are by their knees.

I've just saved some Indian stick insect eggs and put them in the HAP. Should I mist them?
No. The HAP has been designed to provide the correct conditions to incubate Indian stick insect eggs (Carausius morosus). So just leave the eggs in the HAP and don't do anything else: don't mist the eggs, don't spray water into the HAP, and don't attempt to modify the HAP in any way. The best place to store the HAP containing stick insect eggs is on a shelf or table, away from direct sunshine. Indian stick insect eggs usually start hatching after four months, but if the surroundings are particularly hot (like at the moment with the hot summer weather), the incubation time can be reduced by a month, so your eggs may start hatching after three months.

Is it cheaper for you if I pay by PayPal or by debit card?
As a British based business, Small-Life Supplies has to pay commission on payments we receive. The fees that PayPal charge businesses are considerably higher than the fees that the debit card providers charge, so that's why we prefer customers to pay using their debit card wherever possible.

I have created a wild area in my garden, but with this extreme heat we've been having, it's looking dry and brown, and now I'm getting worried because the bramble, although still green, is starting to droop. With the looming hose-pipe ban, what should I do? I really need this bramble to survive because it's a back-up supply for my Pink winged stick insects.
Even if a hose-pipe ban is in place, you are still allowed to use a watering can to water your plants. The best time to do this is early evening. Bramble recovers very quickly, so I'd recommend you water yours this evening. You don't need to use much water, just one watering can full of cold tap water every few days should be enough. Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus) do best on bramble (blackberry) leaves, and they can also eat eucalyptus leaves and wild rose leaves.

Have you had any casualties during this heatwave?
Fortunately not, all our stick insects, caterpillars and snails are fine. Small-Life Supplies made the investment a few years ago for our building to have an air source heat pump, which not only has a low carbon footprint, but also has air-conditioning. So despite the record breaking temperature outside, with our thermometer reading 41 degrees Celsius in the shade, the creatures and us were OK indoors. And our resident song thrush who is nesting outside in one of our bramble bushes survived too, we helped by providing her with a dish of water and periodically carefully using a watering can to cool off the vegetation surrounding her and her nest of eggs.

My son has 4 Indian nymph stick insects (bought from yourselves not that long ago). We have noticed one of them bending backwards almost at 90 degrees is this normal should we be concerned, she seems to be eating normally or is this something to do with the extreme temperatures we are seeing at the moment? Is this a sign of stress even though we have been trying to keep them cool as we can?
What you describe occasionally happens with Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) and should be manually corrected by yourself asap. In very simple terms, the body of an Indian stick insect is a tube and if the tube folds backwards, it gets blocked. To make the tube fill out again, just use your thumb and forefinger to squeeze it very gently either side of the fold and it will spring back into shape. The incidence of body folding behaviour happens occasionally throughout the year, so heat is not a factor. But extreme heat does cause stress and lethargy amongst Indian stick insects, so that's why it's so important to keep the ELC cage housing them in a room that does not exceed 25 degrees Celsius, and is preferably set to a daytime temperature range of between 18 and 21 degrees Celsius.

Have you thought of uploading a video on YouTube explaining that male stick insects have green or blue genitalia? It always make me giggle when I see on the Facebook forums people wondering what these green/blue blobs are at the end of their male stick insects' bodies and declaring that they must be blood!
YouTube has strict rules on what can be shown and they consider insects mating to be rude and so is not allowed! Accounts showing such material, even if clearly for educational purposes, are closed down. So that is why Small-Life Supplies YouTube channel will not be sharing any videos on this topic. You are correct though, the mating apparatus (genitalia) of male stick insects is not widely recognised. The adult male stick insects have a dull looking green or blue jelly like blob at the end of their abdomens which is completely hidden until mating is imminent. The very rare male Indian stick insect , Carausius morosus, which occurs 1 male for every 10000 females, has this too. The male mates with the adult female (by coupling their ends together), and when copulation is completed, they separate and the male genitalia disappear again inside his body. Blood of stick insects is usually pale green and is very rarely seen unless severe fighting has broken out or a stick insect has fallen and cut itself on a bramble thorn. The blood is a runny liquid and dries quickly, so looks nothing like the genitalia of a male stick insect.

I have a question about your bespoke insect cage service, is this offered to ordinary members of the public or just to educational establishments? I only need one cage and so totally understand if this isn't economically viable for you to do, but thought I'd ask anyway. I'm in Bristol.
Small-Life Supplies offers a bespoke insect cage service, but designing new cages and calculating all the costings takes up a lot of time (and in commercial terms, time is money.) That's why most of our bespoke insect cages are purchased by companies and universities who buy multiple cages. However, if the new bespoke cage is a simple modification of one of our existing cages and we have spare material in stock, then yes, we can supply one-off cages to members of the public. I suggest you phone Small-Life Supplies on 01733 203358 with more details, including external dimensions and what species of stick insects the cage is intended for, and we will be able to advise further.

I usually work from home but have opted to go into the office next week, chiefly because it's air-conditioned! It's a small friendly firm and after I explained the situation, the boss has said it's OK to bring my ELC cage and stick insects with me. I figure that'll be best for them, as I can drive to work with the air-conditioning on, park right outside work, and dash in with them! They are Indian stick insects and I can't bear to think of them overheating and dying when the temperature gets above 30 degrees like it is forecast to do. My question is how are other people safeguarding their Indian stick insects?
I am pleased you have found a solution to the impending issue of temperatures between 33 and 36 degrees Celsius being forecast for several days next week in parts of the UK. Such high temperatures are a risk to life for Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) which are acclimatised to daytime temperatures of between 18 and 21 degrees Celsius. An added problem is that the forecast is for a prolonged spell of extreme heat, so it is essential for our customers to move the ELC cage housing Indian stick insects somewhere cooler. Air-conditioned rooms and vehicles are great. Or a shady room where the temperature will not exceed 25 degrees Celsius would be OK. If the only cool room available has no windows, simply leave the light on during the day and switch it off at night. Moving the cage down to the floor from a high shelf will also decrease the temperature slightly. Placing a wet tea towel over a pedestal fan also helps cool the room down, and keep curtains and blinds closed to to minimise solar gain.

I witnessed something strange today and would appreciate your expertise on what went on. I was measuring my caterpillars (I'm doing a growth study at uni) and as it's so warm I had all the windows open. I left the room for about ten minutes, leaving the caterpillars in an open tray, and when I got back there was a small dark insect literally crawling over the caterpillars! As I approached it, it flew out of a window. Any ideas of what it could be and what it was doing?
It was probably a parasitic wasp looking for caterpillars to inject with her eggs. It is peak season now for parasitic insects and they pounce very quickly, targetting their prey and then quickly inserting their sharp needle-like ovipositor into a caterpillar and laying an egg. The caterpillar carries on as normal over the next few weeks, with the parasitoid growing inside the caterpillar. When the parasitoid is fully grown it bursts out of the body of the caterpillar, killing it in the process. Within minutes the parasitoid tranforms into a pupa and a week or so later emerges as a winged adult parasitic wasp. The adult seeks out a mate and after mating, the female flies off to seek out caterpillars to inject. So it is likely that some of your caterpillars will now be hosting parasitoids and those affected will never reach the adult moth or butterfly stage. The adult parasitic wasp is dark and slim with a long thin ovipositor, and bears no resemblance to the familiar yellow striped garden wasp which classified as a different family of wasps.

Some of my Macleays Spectre eggs look dull? Should I be worried? The ones I have in another pot are shiny and last year I managed to hatch some eggs and they were all shiny.
Healthy Australian Macleays Spectre (Extatosoma tiaratum) stick insect eggs look shiny. So yes, you are correct to be concerned about the eggs that look dull. They have probably succumbed to a fungal infection. This can be fatal but not all of the eggs will perish, so it is still worth keeping those eggs, but obviously in a separate container to the shiny eggs. Perhaps you have overdone the misting of the eggs? It is important not to spray the eggs with too much water because this encourages mould growth.

Do you know much about Black beauties? There isn't that much information on the net about them. I've kept Papua New Guineans before. We've been donated loads of them - they were in the tiniest tank - can't believe how many babies are in there! Looking much better in the ELC but I think we'll need another at some point
Black beauty stick insects are from Peru and have the Latin species name Peruphasma schultei. They eat privet leaves (not bramble like most other species of stick insect). You have to be careful with them because when frightened they can emit a chemical spray from their bodies, which can cause mild irritation (sneezing) in people that are sensitive, and also to other animals. So, for public display, a warning notice to this effect would be a good idea to stop vulnerable people getting too close to them. Fortunately they are not as dangerous as the Jamaican stick insect (Alleophasma cyllarus/Anisomorpha cyllarus/ Malacomorpha cyllarus) and the Florida/Devil Rider stick insect (Anisomorpha buprestoides) whose chemical sprays can cause severe reactions (breathing difficulties and temporary blindness ) in people and pets, so should be avoided at all costs!

What is the best tree to support insect life in the UK? I have a meeting next week to discuss which native British trees to plant locally, so I'd appreciate your input.
Definitely oak trees. The Latin species name is Quercus robur. Oak trees do grow slowly, but live for hundreds of years, and have the accolade of supporting the most species of insects. One mature oak tree can support over 500 species of insect, and so this is another reason why existing oak trees should be protected and more oak trees should be planted. At your meeting remember to arrange a rota for people to water the new trees, because this after care greatly enhances their chances of survival but is often forgotten about!

I'm looking forward to receiving the British Cinnabar Caterpillar Kits next week, and the bags of fresh ragwort leaves. I live in the city but always keep insects, they help me stay sane! I know that the pupae won't emerge till next spring time and that they need to be stored outdoors in an unheated garage or shed. Unfortunately I don't have either of those facilities and so I wondered if I could post the pupae back to Small-Life Supplies, for you to add to your breeding stocks? A gift from me to you, and hopefully a good life for the moths
It's great that you are still able to look after some pet insects, Small-Life Supplies has a lot of customers who feel the same way as you and are benefitting mentally from maintaining some connection with the natural world, despite living in heavily built up areas. I am sure you will enjoy rearing the British Cinnabar caterpillars (Callimorpha jacobaeae), these are bright orange caterpillars with black hoops, that grow quickly to a length of 2cm. In the wild, the pupae are formed on the ground and need to remain at the surrounding natural temperatures, so that they emerge at the correct time of year (Spring 2023). If you store the pupae indoors there is a strong likelihood they will develop faster (because it is warmer indoors than outdoors) and the resulting moths may emerge in winter, when it would be too cold to release them outside. So yes, you are welcome to post the pupae back to Small-Life Supplies and we shall store them correctly so that they emerge in Spring 2023. Please contact Small-Life Supplies on 01733 203358 and ask for us to include some packaging and instructions with your British Cinnabar Caterpillar Kits order, so that when the time comes, you can pack the pupae safely and correctly. Obviously we'll include this packaging free of charge.

Please, please, please can you ask people to stop putting their unwanted stick insect eggs in the freezer? It's not humane, because cold just puts the development on pause, and when the eggs are taken out of the freezer they warm up inside and some can start developing again. I'm a biology teacher and am disturbed at the misguided advice being promulgated on-line, particularly when religious delusions conflict with scientific fact.
Correct, and that is why Small-Life Supplies have never suggested putting unwanted stick insect eggs in a home freezer. The proper method is to use hot water, this is immediate and 100% effective. Fire has the same effect. Or, you can mimic nature by feeding the eggs to birds and fish. Stick insect eggs take months to develop and so it's very easy to keep control of the egg numbers, by disposing of unwanted eggs responsibly every week when you replace the cage Liner in the ELC cage. In Nature, less than 1% of the eggs survive anyway, so it is responsible and not at all cruel to mimic Nature and ensure that you don't keep too many stick insect eggs.

Do sweltering temperatures suit some stick insects better than others? My room is 27 degrees just now, and the Pink Winged are flying around the room and seem happy, but my Indian stick insects are still and a bit droopy, they're still alive but don't look well at all.
Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) do not like it hot. They have been reared in homes in the UK for many decades and have acclimatised to cooler conditions. So they do best at a daytime temperature of between 18 and 21 degrees Celsius. Many Indian stick insects exhibit stressful behaviour similar to what you are observing when the temperature exceeds 25 degrees Celsius. So I'd recommend you move them to a cooler area urgently and mist the leaves with cold tap water so the stick insects can have a drink off the leaves. In contrast, some other species of stick insect including: Pink Winged stick insects (Sipyloidea sipylus), New Guinea stick insects (Eurycantha calcarata) and Malaysian stick insects (Heteropteryx dilatata) are fine at hot temperatures of 27 degrees Celsius as well as comfortably warm day time temperatures of between 18 and 21 degrees Celsius. All these species of stick insect benefit from a cooler nightime temperature of between 12 and 14 degrees Celsius.

Interesting to read your explanation about the taxonomic classification of the Thailand stick insect and the futile debate of whether it should be in the Ramulus genus or the Baculum genus. I am a botanist and am very frustrated at the attempts being made to reclassify plants (even the beloved Hebe!), seemingly for no logical purpose. And so much knowledge is being lost, with the protagonists for change patently not knowing their Latin and Greek, unlike those of us who endured these languages at school and university entrance. So I'm just lending you my support and keep up the good work!
Thank you for your support, and I agree it is concerning when knowledge is lost. The insect classification system is based on that developed by Carl Linnaeus hundreds of years ago, back in the 1700s. Latin and Greek were the languages used, with the genus (the first word of the species name) being chosen because it represented a physical characteristic of the insect. So, for example, the Sexton Beetle, known as the burying beetle because it buries it's dead prey, was assigned the genus Necrophorus. This word derives from the Latin necro, and Greek word nekros, meaning dead body. All very logical and correct. However, around twenty years ago, I noticed that some people changed this genus to Nicrophorus, this makes no etymological sense and so presumably was a typing error. Unfortunately people who don't have any knowledge of Latin or Greek have just blindly copied this error, so much so that now Wikipedia and numerous wildlife groups falsely state that Nicrophorus is the genus. I have a large library of insect books and of course all the older ones have the genus spelt correctly as Necrophorus. So it is nonsense for Wikipedia to have now added a comment that the spelling change was made back in 1789! I don't think so!

We enjoyed raising caterpillars from you last year, but don't see any on your site? School term will be over soon, do you think there will be any available soon?
We have thousands of British Vapourer eggs, these usually hatch well in May and June, but none have hatched at all! This sometimes happens with butterfly and moth eggs, so the eggs are still viable but hatching has been delayed. As soon as they start hatching, we will inform everyone on the waiting-list. However, as your school shuts over the summer holidays, I think you would be looking at getting them in September. British Vapourer caterpillars (Orgyia antiqua) have a very fast lifecycle, eat bramble leaves and can be released outside in the UK.

Can Australian Macleays Spectre stick insects eat hazel leaves?
Yes, we feed our Australian Macleays Spectre stick insects (Extatosoma tiaratum) a mixture of hazel leaves, eucalyptus leaves, bramble (blackberry) leaves and Photinia leaves. Hazel leaves are large and nutritious, but I'd recommend including some or all of the other leaves listed above as well, so don't feed Australian Macleays Spectre stick insects exclusively on hazel leaves.

Is it true that you guys discovered the Thailand stick insects over forty years ago and have been breeding them ever since? With no variation into the genetic strain? And the correct genus is Baculum not Ramulus?
I was fortunate enough to be sent a few Thailand stick insects (Baculum thaii) direct from the man who did discover them in Thailand, and yes, that was around forty years ago. Since then I have continually reared successive generations of Thailand stick insects, all from these original individuals, so never introducing new genetic stock. It is a very healthy strain. The correct genus is Baculum (which is the Latin word for stick), but recently some people are calling this species Ramulus (which is the Latin word for small branch). Taxonomic classification is based on the physical characteristics of the animal, and clearly the straight, rod-like Thailand stick insect looks more like a stick than a branch, so the original classification of assigning it to the Baculum genus is correct. The full species name is therefore Baculum thaii. The extra 'i' at the end of thai is deliberate and is the correct Latin.

I am in a hotel for a couple of days for a conference. I live in a block of flats and have an arrangement with my neighbour, so we look after each others pets if either of us are away. She's just messaged me to say that the ELC Liner is curling up. I haven't seen this happen before and so I hope you can shed some light on this. We are both worried, although she did say that the stick insects are OK (Indian stick insects).
If you spray too much water into the cage, or spray the water downwards instead of horizontally or upwards, the ELC Liner gets too wet and when the Liner dries out it curls up at the edge. So your neighbour needs to alter how she is spraying the leaves, so less water lands on the ELC Liner. It is important not to spray too much water onto the leaves, and so it's handy to check that the ELC Liner remains uncurled, because this shows that you are misting the leaves correctly. You have obviously been doing this right because you haven't seen the ELC Liner curling up before. But people who are new to looking after stick insects often mist the leaves wrongly to start with, but soon learn the correct technique. It's important to have flat ELC Liners because they need to be flat to do the job properly of containing the eggs and poo (frass).

I feed my Indian stick insects with fresh leaves every week and when I push the stems into water in the sprig pot, I always do a quick check for "hitch-hikers" such as spiders, ladybirds, caterpillars, ants and so on. Today I saw something I hadn't seen before. Twenty-eight spherical green eggs clustered together and glued underneath a hazel leaf. I attach a photo. What could they be? I thought at first they might be butterfly eggs but the butterfly eggs I have seen have had ridges and these eggs are just plain.
Great that you routinely check over the leaves first, this is good practice and prevents unwelcome additions to the stick insect cage. Ants are particularly troublesome and so it's important that they are not accidentally introduced into the cage. The photo you sent shows eggs of the Green Shieldbug (Palomena prasina). These eggs are plain and because they are still green, they have recently been glued to the underside of the hazel leaf. In a couple of weeks time, they will darken in colour and then the baby Shieldbugs will emerge. Some species of Shieldbug have maternal care, where the parent stays by the eggs and then protects the young nymphs who cluster underneath her body. However, the Green Shieldbug species does not exhibit this behaviour. So you could place the leaf with the eggs in a HAP and wait for them to emerge. When the babies (nymphs) emerge, they need to suck the sap out from a fresh hazel leaf, so you can either gather a fresh hazel leaf for them, or carefully put the insects back under a leaf on a hazel tree growing outside. 2022 is going to be a bumper year for these shieldbugs in the UK because a lot of people are reporting noticing these clusters of eggs for the first time.

We originally purchased 4 Indian Stick insects from you quite some time ago. Sadly they have all perished, but I did save some of the eggs and we have successfully hatched 6 in recent months. They’re doing great, and I’ve always suspected one of them might be a male. Tonight when cleaning the cage, I found this (photo attached). Having read a lot of the Q’s and A’s on the website, we’re quite excited that we may have a genuine male. Are you able to confirm please?
Thanks for the photo, but yours is not a true male Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) but instead is a "gynandromorph" which means it has a mixture of male and female characteristics. The abdomen of your stick insect is thinner than a standard female, but is fatter than on a true male, and it is also misshapen which is a classic characteristic of a gynandromorph Indian stick insect. Also, the green genitalia are on show, another classic characteristic of a gynandromorph Indian stick insect. The true male Indian stick insects are very rare, occuring 1 in every 10000 females, and these males have smooth slim tan coloured bodies, with the male genitalia only appearing when mating with a female is imminent. The true males cannot lay eggs because they have no female characteristics.

I recently purchased two Thailand stick insects, the male and female pair. I'm concerned about the male as when we first got him he was very energetic, moving around the cage a lot and seemed to enjoy being handled. Now his front legs were crossed and his antennae were together and facing downwards. 1) Is it possible to overspray or underspray the leaves? 2) Is it possible that cigarette smoke can damage the insects? 3) Would even a trace of bird poo make them ill? 4) Should you change the bramble leaves as soon as you see some of them dying? The two times I have changed them there were dying leaves in there for about a day. 5) Is it possible the stick insects are getting too hot due to the summer? If so, is there any way for me to combat this? 6) Is it possible to overhandle your insects? For the first 3 days or so I was of course very happy to have them and I handled them a lot.
I am sorry to hear that your adult male Thailand stick insect (Baculum thaii) is dying. Various factors are involved here and so it's good that you have provided so much information so we can resolve this and prevent it happening again. Overhandling is a contributory factor, it's best to only handle Thailand stick insects for a few minutes each day and try to minimise handling for the first week to allow them to settle into their new surroundings. Stick insects don't have a filtering system and so the air just drifts into their bodies through their side holes (called spiracles). This means they are very sensitive to air-borne chemicals and so cigarette smoke is very bad for them. Thailand stick insects do not like to get too hot and so it's best to keep them in a room that is 18-21 degrees Celsius during the day (and cooler at night). Daytime temperatures up to 25 degrees Celsius are tolerated but above that the stick insects become stressed and should be moved to a cooler, shadier room. You don't want to drench the bramble leaves and so just one or two squirts from our Mister in the evening is sufficient. Your concerns about traces of bird poo and a few dying leaves are unfounded and would not have contributed to your stick insect's demise.

Would it be harmful to put compost and dried leaves in the bottom of my stick insects habitat?
Yes, this is a very bad idea so please don't do it! One consequence is that mould spores will develop and disperse into the air. This is detrimental to human health, especially so if you spend a long time in the same room as the habitat, for example a bedroom. I know too many people who are suffering from chesty coughs and lung damage because they have inhaled mould spores from dead leaves over time. The stick insects do not benefit from being housed in damp surroundings either, indeed black rot occurs on their leg joints if the surroundings are too humid. And of course, it is very difficult to sort stick insect eggs if they are being dropped onto a mixture of compost and dead leaves. That is why Small-Life Supplies supply paper Liners which are ideal to use on the floor of the stick insect cage because they keep the surroundings hygienic, are easy to use, and the spherical shaped stick insect eggs simply roll off the Liner when it is tilted and tapped underneath.

I have a question for you, I have a number of stick insects hatched from eggs and out of the colony one is brown with green goo on its rear end.
I can see from the photos you emailed that this is a rare Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) which has some male characteristics (the green goo on the rear end is the male genitalia), but also has the fat abdomen which is a female characteristic. So this stick insect is called a gynandromorph. Such individuals are rare but not as rare as the true Indian stick insect males which have entirely male characteristics and no female characteristics (so never produce eggs). There is a photo of a true male Indian stick insect in the book "Keeping Stick Insects" by Dorothy Floyd. A true male Indian stick insect is very rare, occuring 1 in every 10000 females and his green genitalia are only seen during the mating process. In contrast,a gynandromorph Indian stick insect looks deformed, with a bumpy looking abdomen and green genitalia permanently on show. There are degrees of gynandromorphism, and some of these stick insects (with the fatter abdomens) are able to lay a few eggs, but others with the thinner abdomens cannot.

I have 5 Indian stick insects that hatched in December 2020. They are all doing really well in a large mesh cage. For the first 14 months I fed them on bramble in a pot with wet oasis and now they are eating rose leaves also kept fresh in wet oasis. I’m surprised they are living so long. Do they need any special care as they are so elderly?
It is good that all your Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) are still alive after one year and five months. The average lifespan of this species is one year, but we have also noticed that certain individuals can live much longer. Often it is the small individuals that have the longest lifespans. With some other stick insect species, diet can extend the lifespan, this is true for the Australian Macleays Spectre stick insect (Extatosoma tiaratum) where those fed on eucalyptus significantly outlive those fed on bramble. All stick insects require more water when they get very old, so I'd recommend you mist the leaves more generously with water every evening so your stick insects can have a good drink of water from the droplets on the leaves.

Shocking that on This Morning TV, Phillip Schofield is advocating killing caterpillars in your garden! And as for Richard Madeley doing his "Don't Look Up" performance with the climate activist woman a few weeks back... Don't get me wrong, I do generally like both these presenters, but just why are they both so out of touch when it comes to the climate crisis and helping nature? Is it an "old stale pale male" thing, I know they're both over 60? They should "get it" by now!
Fortunately lots of people in the UK do "get it" and understand how serious the climate crisis is. However, there appears to be a deliberate policy on mainstream TV and radio of trivialising this matter, either by ignoring the issue completely and not covering it at all, or by having live broadcasts that you describe with presenters completely out of touch on the issues. Fortunately, following these broadcasts, the complaints roll in and so sending in a complaint is one thing you can do to help effect change. There are some presenters who are up to speed, for example Liza Tarbuck clearly has an affinity with nature and reads out amusing animal observations sent in by listeners on her show on Radio 2.

My stick insect is not moving or responding when I tap her, but her antennae are levitating even though when I tap them they don’t move. Also she was laying eggs and climbing around just two weeks ago. Is she dead or alive or dying?
She is dying, probably from old age. Dying stick insects can be as you describe for a few days before becoming totally still when they have died. If you are seeing any movement at all the stick insect is still alive so don't remove it from the cage until you are certain it has passed.

Our bramble bushes are covered in greenfly! I've tried shaking the leaves outside but some some still remain, so please tell me if these insects pose any risk to my Indian stick insects?
There are a lot of aphids, greenfly and blackfly on bramble bushes at the moment. They suck the sap out of the leaves and so are reluctant to let go! You are doing the right thing in shaking off as many as you can outside. The stick insects can still eat the affected leaves but the issue is the sticky "honeydew" that these insects produce which sticks to the inside walls of the ELC cage. So after a week, you will need to remove all your Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) and wash the ELC cage with lukewarm soapy water (rinse well). Use the soft Cleaning Sponge (supplied as part of the ELC Bundle) to gently remove the sticky honeydew residue. Repeat this process as necessary in the coming months to ensure you continue to keep your stick insects in clean surroundings.

I'm interested in buying and looking after two of your Thailand stick insects, but noticed that the pair is one male and one female. The only reason I wouldn't want a female is that I know they produce several eggs and I don't want to have to kill the eggs/sell them on to someone else, I just want to look after the stick insects as pets. Would it be possible for me to request to have two males instead?
Small-Life Supplies breed Thailand stick insects (Baculum thaii) in large numbers and they have a 50:50 ratio of males to females. The adults pair up, with the strongest and largest females choosing to be with the strongest and largest males. When Small-Life Supplies send them out, we always choose a couple that is together. They mate regularly throughout their adult lives (of seven+ months), and the females lay eggs every day. In the wild, over 99% of these eggs would perish, either by being water logged, crushed, or being eaten by a predator. So, when you're keeping stick insects as pets, you need to mimic nature, the easiest way is to use water. We don't sell Thailand stick insect males separately because it would be mean to split them up from their partners.

Why is Amazon charging £112 for the "Keeping Stick Insects" book by Dorothy Floyd, that's £100 over the asking price of £12 that Small-Life Supplies is selling new copies for? Am I missing something?
Small-Life Supplies does not sell via Amazon, and so the high price you are seeing is what other sellers are asking. The "Keeping Stick Insects" book by Dorothy Floyd is in stock at Small-Life Supplies, at price £12 + delivery. Signed copies are available at no extra charge.

I have three female Thailand stick insects, they have recently matured. Will they be OK as girls together? Or should I get a male (or two)? I know they'll lay eggs regardless. I just want them to be as happy as they can be and so will do whatever is best for them.
Thailand stick insects (Baculum thaii) are long twig-like stick insects, and males and females occur naturally in equal numbers. Adult Thailand stick insects mate regularly throughout their lives, and so it would be best to purchase some adult males (ideally three, but two would suffice) for your three females. Eggs resulting from mated Thailand stick insect females produce stronger offspring than those from unmated females, so that is another reason why you should get some males.

I am a newbie stick insect keeper and have just changed the Liner in the ELC cage. I have tipped the contents into a bowl and picked out a few eggs which I hope will hatch in a few months (I think the incubation is four months for Indian stick insects?) The unwanted eggs need to be terminated but does the water need to be hot or would cold water be OK? Also, I'm assuming that popping them in the freezer wouldn't work because they would thaw out when removed from the freezer?
Each Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) lays a few eggs each day during her adult lifetime, so the total number soon adds up to several hundred eggs altogether. So well done for being responsible and dealing with the unwanted eggs soon after they have been laid. At this stage the contents of each egg is just a bunch of cells and so talk of "killing" and "being cruel" is misplaced and not justified. The fastest way to stop cells developing further is to denature their structure using heat, so that is why pouring hot water over unwanted stick insect eggs is a very fast and 100% effective method for stopping development. So please use either hot tap water or, better still, boiling water from a kettle. And no, cold from a home freezer is a very slow method and not totally effective because of course the eggs warm up when they are removed from the freezer and development may recommence. Eggs of Indian stick insects usually take four months to develop.

I'm researching the mating of the Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus). I know males are very rare and that mating occurs at night. Do you have any more observational data on this?
You are correct, Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) usually reproduce by parthenogenesis. However, males do exist but are very rare, 1 in every 10000 Indian stick insects is male. I have one of these rare adult male Indian stick insects at the moment. He likes to mate at night, around 10.15pm. The mating process is similar to other species of stick insect, but much faster.

Do stick insects need water?
Yes, stick insects need to drink water. This is best done by lightly misting the leaves once a day with cold tap water so the stick insects can drink from the water droplets on the leaves. Some species of stick insect, including the New Guinea stick insect (Eurycantha calcarata), and the Malaysian stick insect (Heteropteryx dilatata), drink a lot of water and so for these species, it is best to put a shallow Water Dish in the stick insect cage. In contrast, the Australian Macleays Spectre stick insect (Extatosoma tiaratum) only requires very small amounts of water to drink, so if you are keeping these stick insects, you only need to mist the leaves once or twice a week. For best results, house the stick insects in the ELC stick insect cage because this provides the correct ventilation to keep the stick insects successfully.

Our four ladies (Indian stick insects) which we got from you are popping out lots of eggs, we have saved some (to hatch in four months time) and put the rest on a white plate, ready to put out for the birds tomorrow. We live in Leicestershire and always feed the birds, do you know which ones will eat the stick insect eggs? I assume I put the eggs out intact (so I don't need to cull them first)?
Blackbirds and magpies enjoy eating Indian stick insect eggs, and this nutritious food is particularly beneficial to them during May and June when they are producing eggs themselves and feeding their chicks. It's great that you are putting on the sorted Indian eggs on a white plate because this helps the garden birds to form a clear "search image" of this new food, so they won't hesitate to eat it again in the future. Depending how smart and hungry your garden birds are, they will eat the stick insect eggs immediately, or they may consider this for a few days and then devour them. However, rest assured once they have eaten some of these Indian stick insect eggs (Carausius morosus), they will be back for more. And yes, put out healthy eggs because these will be nutritious and benefit the birds. The birds don't want to eat dead eggs.

What is this and what will it eat? (Photo attached of a plain small green ridged oval shaped creature).
The photo you sent is of a Scale insect, family Coccidae. Yours is a female because she has no wings, legs or antennae. She should be attached to a leaf where she will remain for the rest of her life, sucking out the sap to feed.

I am just about to purchase an ELC bundle for my stickies. We have a vulnerable family member and so please can you tell me what your courier's policy is regarding COVID precautions during delivery?
Small-Life Supplies dispatch ELC bundles using a reputable courier who have implemented procedures for public safety (regarding COVID) during the last couple of years. They keep us updated on this and have decided to continue to act responsibly to protect their drivers and their customers. They have just issued the following statement in May 2022: " We are operating a ‘No Contact’ Delivery approach nationally where all deliveries require drivers to observe a 2 metre distance at the point of delivery. Recipients are not requested to sign our handheld devices."

Hey I was wondering if you ever offer 10% or 20% markdown on damaged ELC cages?
Yes, Small-Life Supplies offers a 20% markdown, or discount, on brand new ELC cages which have large scratches or marks. Small-Life Supplies manufacture large numbers of ELC cages but occasionally some of the plastic panels have scratches and so these cages are put aside and labelled as "grade B". Of course, these marks do not affect the performance of the cage and are barely noticeable when the food and stick insects are in the cage. These bargain cages always sell really quickly and so please phone Small-Life Supplies on 01733 203358 to check availability. And we are happy to email you photos of the exact ELC cage you would receive, just mention this when you call.

I'm hoping to make a career in entomology. My question is do the university courses allow you to study insects outside of daylight hours?
Good courses will allow that because, like other animals, insects follow regular time cycles when they are most active, and so it makes sense to be observing the insects during these times. Indeed when I was at Cambridge University studying beetles, we were outside in the field monitoring their activity every hour throughout the night! And I was regularly allowed late night access to the university labs to video mosquitoes because that was the time that they produced their rafts of eggs on the water in the cages.

I have failed at keeping the "unarmed New Zealand stick insect", Acanthoxyla inermis. Only a few of the eggs hatched and the nymphs ate bramble but died at various stages. One made it to adult, but always looked thin and died this morning. I have experience in keeping Pink Winged, Indian and New Guinea stick insects successfully, so don't understand what's gone wrong here? A dud genetic strain perhaps?
You are not alone, actually a lot of people struggle to keep the New Zealand stick insects successfully in captivity in the UK. There are two species of New Zealand stick insect which have been living wild in parts of the South West of the UK for over one hundred years. These are the smooth "unarmed" New Zealand stick insect Acanthoxyla inermis, and the similar looking but spiky species called the New Zealand stick insect, Acanthoxyla prasina. What you have described is typical of what others have experienced. My view is that these species have a very high mortality rate which is why their populations are not more widespread across the South West and one reason why, after a century, they have not migrated to other parts of the UK.

I'm thinking of putting soil at the bottom of the ELC cage and adding springtails and isopods, would that work? I'm getting four adult Indian stick insects and keeping the cage in my bedroom.
It's a very bad idea to add soil, springtails and isopods to the stick insects cage, here are some reasons why. The humidity would increase which is detrimental to the Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus). And soon you will get smelly unhygienic conditions, with little fruit flies and mould spores. You certainly don't want to be breathing in mould spores in your bedroom because this is very bad for health (damaging your lungs). Also, Indian stick insects lay eggs every day and it is important to only save a few eggs, otherwise you will have too many stick insects to cope with. Eggs that have dropped into soil are very hard to collect, unlike eggs that are dropped onto the ELC Liner, which roll off easily when the Liner is tilted. So it's much better for you and the stick insects, to use disposable ELC Liners on the floor of the ELC cage and replace the Liner once a week. You receive ten ELC Liners as part of the ELC bundle, so that's ten weeks supply. More Liners can be ordered later on, they are available in blue, green and pink.

You say that Indian stick insects can eat Photinia, but do they want the red leaves or the green leaves?
Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) prefer to eat the tender Photinia leaves. At this time of year, the new growth is the red leaves and so these red leaves are what the Indian stick insects like to eat. The red leaves are large and soft. It's also a good idea to put some sprigs of bramble (blackberry) leaves in the Sprig Pot of water as well, so the stick insects have a choice. However, our Indian stick insects are devouring Photinia at the moment!

I’m wondering if you can help me identify if this stick insect has passed away from a fungal infection, or if this discolouration is part of her ageing? She has been absolutely fine in herself - eating, active (same bramble as my other species who are all OK). I noticed when I picked her up once she’d passed that she almost felt a little sticky on her back. There’s no way I’d have been able to tell this previously - as she was an aggressive lady when handled! I’ve had her for nine months - she had her last moult in October 2021. She was my first Macleays so keen to learn from what happened to her for future specimens.
Your photos show an adult female Australian Macleays Spectre stick insect (Extatosoma tiaratum) that has died naturally from old age. Her discoloration is to be expected with the ageing process. Fortunately she does not have the particles underneath her thorax and abdomen that are visible with fungal infections, and neither does she have black rotting joints where the limbs attach to the thorax. So you have done a good job in looking after her well. An adult lifespan of six months is typical for this species if their diet is bramble, their lifespan can be longer if they are fed on eucalyptus. It is normal for very old female Australian Macleays Spectre stick insects to look a bit "sweaty", so this is probably what the stickiness was that you detected. It's strange that she was aggressive, had she got a male partner? It's best if you can, to have both male and female adults, because they mate regularly throughout their adult lives and produce good quality eggs that hatch into both genders.

I've always tried to get the best bramble I can find for my stick insects, but it's getting difficult now because the old leaves have a lot of purple on them, and I'm not sure at what size the new leaves are safe for the stick insects to eat? I have mature Australian Macleays Spectre stick insects.
It can be difficult in April to find good quality bramble leaves, because being Springtime, the bramble plants are diverting their energy resources into growing the new leaves. The good news is that once the soft new pale green bramble leaves are 3cm long, they are safe for the stick insects to eat. So you should be able to find either new leaves of this size (or larger), as well as some older darker green leaves from last year's growth. And there is always the option of adding leaves from Photinia, wild rose and eucalyptus, because mature Australian Macleays Spectre stick insects (Extatosoma tiaratum) can eat all of these types of leaves. Indeed, here at Small-Life Supplies, we routinely feed our Australian Macleays Spectre stick insects a mixture of these leaves. See our first YouTube video "How to feed stick insects in the Spring".

How often do Heteropteryx dilatata nymphs shed their skin?
As a general rule, stick insects shed their skins six times as they grow. This process is called ecdysis. I have not personally recorded the growth spurts of Malaysian stick insects (Heteropteryx dilatata), although here at Small-Life Supplies we do breed this species and so it would be a straight forward exercise to do. The cast-off skins (exuviae) of most stick insects are white, but the large female nymphs of Malaysian stick insects leave skins that are green! Another unusual feature of Malaysian stick insects is the slow speed at which they grow. Many other species are fully grown within five months, but Malaysian stick insects take one year to mature, on average, and then live another two years as adults.

We received some British Vapourer caterpillars from you a while back, and they are still eating and are absolutely huge! Is this normal? We were expecting them to make their little cocoons quickly, but they keep on munching away!
Yes, this can happen. From one batch of caterpillars, born at the same time, some can develop really quickly whereas others keep on eating and grow much larger, so take longer before they pupate (transform into a pupa). So yours will pupate soon and because they are large caterpillars, each will make a large cocoon and transform into a large pupa inside the cocoon. The reason why caterpillars grow at different rates is a survival strategy, so that they make pupae at different times which means that the emergence of the adult British Vapourer moths (Orgyia antiqua) is staggered, and so this increases their protection against spells of bad weather.

Thank you for sending me the Indian stick insects, the label attached said "Eat bramble (blackberry) leaves, wild rose leaves, eucalyptus leaves and hazel leaves." Is that list exhaustive? Around where I live there is plenty of bramble, also Photinia - would they eat that too?
Bramble (blackberry) leaves are the best leaves to feed Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus). So it's great that you have good local supplies of bramble. Your stick insects will be fine just on a diet of bramble leaves (mist the leaves daily with cold tap water, so the stick insects can drink). We have tried some of our Indian stick insects on Photinia and they have thrived, so you can add some Photinia as well, from time to time. However, it's best to keep bramble (blackberry) as the main foodplant because, after many years of research, we know that this results in healthy active stick insects. Years ago, we used to feed our Indian stick insects exclusively on privet leaves, but discovered they actually do much better and are more active when fed on bramble leaves.

My daughter is a budding entomologist, she's only thirteen, but thinking ahead (!) is this something she could study at university and be a well paid career?
Yes, one way to study entomology at university is to be accepted onto a biology degree, so for example, this could be zoology or environmental biology, but with entomology modules. So top grades in A level biology and other science subjects or maths are needed. And of course, working back, that means concentrating on all the science and maths subjects at GCSE and achieving good grades in those. Your daughter won't be studying for GCSEs yet, but it's a good idea to encourage her to develop her interest in science and nature so she can have a head start. There are various career options open to qualified entomologists, including well paid roles in both academia and the commercial sector.

Two of our British Vapourer moths emerged yesterday and we noticed them start to mate at 11pm! So we left them to it, and this morning the female is still sticking her eggs in rows. The male had moved away and so we released him in the garden. My question is how normal is it for them to be mating so late at night?
British Vapourer moths (Orgyia antiqua) usually mate soon after emerging from the pupae in their cocoons. So, in the wild, mating typically occurs during the afternoon and usually lasts a few minutes, or occasionally ten to twenty minutes. However, I assume a room light was on and so I suspect your moths emerged late in the evening and decided to start mating because the light was on. You did the right thing in letting the male fly off the next day and you can look forward to the eggs hatching within weeks. If you have too many caterpillars you can release these onto bramble bushes outdoors. It's best to distribute the caterpillars over several bramble bushes rather than just one, because a predator is more likely to spot (and eat) a dense cluster of caterpillars rather than individuals that have been spread out more thinly.

We keep our house fairly cool, around 15 to 18 degrees C (none of us particularly like having the heating on for long periods, which happily is good for gas bills and the environment), would this be OK for stick insects? I have read that some need warmer temperatures, and there are small heated mats which can be put in the bottom of cages, would we need anything like that (or special lamps etc?).
Many stick insects prefer a daily room temperature which is at least 18 degrees Celsius, and within the range of 18-21 degrees Celsius. So I'm afraid 15 degrees Celsius is a bit risky, so you'd need to provide some extra warmth. The best way to achieve this is to use a portable 500 Watt oil-filled radiator, which you plug in near the ELC cage, approximately 50cm away from a mesh side. This is an economical, safe and effective way of increasing the temperature locally. You can purchase this item on-line, here is the link: https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/heaters-radiators/7126073. Heat mats are not recommended because they can dry out the foliage too much, and lamps should be avoided too.You also need to check the night time temperatuire in the room, because most stick insects do not like the temperature to be below 12 degrees Celsius at night on a regular basis. (Stick insects can tolerate drops down to freezing on the odd occasion, but should not be subject to such extreme cold routinely).

Our daughter will be fifteen soon and very much would like some stick insects as pets. We haven't kept any pets before and stick insects sound like a great option, which is very refreshing! With the cost of energy crisis though, I am concerned for later on in the year. We have decided to limit our home temperature to 18 degrees in the day, will this be warm enough for them? Or are there some types of stick insect that are better suited to slightly cooler temperatures than other types? Our house is on an estate that was built in the 1990s and so I think it's OK insulation wise, I haven't noticed it getting particularly cold at night.
A daytime temperature of 18 degrees Celsius is OK for some species of stick insect including the Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) and Thailand stick insects (Baculum thaii). These are the most hardy stick insects, and both types are easy to keep too, so I'd recommend one, or both, of these types for your daughter. You can house them together in the ELC cage and both species eat bramble (blackberry) leaves. We have the thermostat in our stick insect breeding facility set to 12 degrees Celsius at night. So I recommend you set your room digital thermostat to 12 degrees Celsius at night too, in case there is an extreme cold snap. However usually, in a well insulated house, there is no need for the heating to come on at night because the room will be above 12 degrees Celsius anyway.

I know loads of people read your page and so I'm hoping you can include my appeal on here? "Please don't take more bramble than you need! And keep the cut bramble in water, because this way it stays fresh for a week inside the cage."
Yes, happy to repeat your appeal. It makes no sense to cut more bramble than you need, this is very wasteful and rather selfish because it deprives other stick insect owners and depletes nature. And yes, the cut stems should always be stood in water because that way the leaves stay fresh for a week or more. We recommend the Sprig Pot, just fill this with cold tap water and push the cut stems through the central hole in the Sprig Pot. If the stems are not stood in water, the stem and leaves soon dry up, so are not eaten by the stick insects and need to be thrown away within days.

I would like to make a will, and leave some money to help protect the planet. I value any help you can give me.
If you plan to leave a gift to a charity in your will, make sure you include the charity´s full name, address and registered charity number. Greenpeace has a very simple to use website, which clearly explains how to bequeath money to them. They also provide phone numbers if you wish to talk to a solicitor about this. Greenpeace rely on money from wills to help fund their vital work in saving rainforests, oceans etc and are a reputable organisation, so have my support.

Would a conservatory be a good place for my cage of Indian stick insects? Or would so much light be an issue for them? I've just received the ELC bundle and four Indian stick insect adults.
No, don't keep them in the conservatory. It's not the light that is the issue, it is the temperature. The problem with conservatories is that when it is sunny, they can get very hot and conversely at night, they can be a bit chilly. Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) do not like to be kept in hot surroundings, so it's really important that you choose a room in your home that is typically between 18 and 21 degrees Celsius during the day. At night, a comfortable room temperature for the stick insects is between 12 and 14 degrees Celsius. Many of our customers keep their ELC cage of stick insects in their: lounge, dining room, home office, kitchen, or bedroom.

I have got a baby Indian stick insect hatched out and now in one of your hatching pots. I was wondering how I go about feeding them and misting them? Also, how big do Indian stick insects need to be before I transfer them in to the bigger setup I bought from yourselves?
Gather a nice looking dark green bramble leaf from outside and mist the top surface of the leaf with cold tap water. Shake off the excess water and then place the leaf, wet side uppermost into the HAP, angling the leaf so that it touches the HAP Liner and then reaches upwards into the HAP. Every few days, remove the bramble leaf and replace with a fresh wet one, following the above advice. Don't spray water into the HAP because this will make the surroundings too humid. And there is no need to trim the edges of the bramble leaf unless they are shrivelled and brown. After 6 - 8 weeks your baby Indian stick insects will have grown significantly (by shedding their skins) and should now have a total length (this includes the front legs outstretched and body) of 3.5cm. There is a photo of this in the free leaflet that accompanies all orders Small-Life Supplies dispatch. This is the size at which Indian stick insects (Carausius morosus) require more air and space, so this is when you should transfer them to the purpose designed ELC stick insect cage.

At what point is the new bramble growth safe for the stick insects?
The soft pale green bramble leaves need to be 3cm long to be safe for stick insects to eat. More details are on the Small-Life Supplies YouTube video # 001, called "How to feed stick insects in the Spring".

I'd appreciate your thoughts on the content of the "Comparing Life Cycles" chart (see photo attached) that I saw today on a home educator course. It's American but is being used here (in the UK), and it's full of technical errors! On the insect section it only has four sentences but there are mistakes in three of them!
Thanks for sending the photo, here is the actual text from the insect section, with my comments alongside. (1) "Born as an egg". No! An insect is born when it hatches from an egg and not before. (2) "Larvae (caterpillar) hatch and feed". Not quite correct, the author is mixing the singular and plural. A larva is the singular and larvae the plural. So one caterpillar is a larva and multiple caterpillars are larvae. (3) "Caterpillar pupates in chrysalis". Not technically correct because the caterpillar pupates into a pupa. Only a few pupae have gold markings and only these pupae can be called chrysalises (after the Greek word "chrysos" meaning gold). The image is of a Monarch chrysalis which does have some gold so can be called a chrysalis. However in the UK we do not have Monarch butterflies and so most British people will never see a Monarch chrysalis. (4) "Adults look very different from young". This shows a Monarch butterfly and yes, butterflies and moths go through "complete metamorphosis" and so the adults look nothing like the young. So you're right , this last sentence is the only one that is correct! It is depressing that such factually incorrect material is being used in an educational setting. I hope you voiced your concerns with the course co-ordinator.

Your webpage says adult Pink Winged stick insects "benefit from a weekly flight across the room". Can you elaborate a bit more please? Do I just take the lid off the ELC cage and wait for them to fly out?
No, you need to lift out the adult Pink Winged stick insect (Sipyloidea sipylus) and let her stand on your outstretched flat palm, facing away from your body. The first time you do this, it's best to hold your hand above a table. This is because she will be cautious on her maiden flight and this is likely to be short and she will probably land on the table. However, she will soon gain confidence and make longer flights successfully, so will soon be able to fly across the room and land on the wall. Then you need to pick her up and put her back inside the ELC cage. Stick insects are often thirsty after flying, so it's recommended to lightly mist the bramble leaves in the cage with water before you return her to the cage. More flying tips and illustrations of this activity are in the "Keeping Stick Insects" book by Dorothy Floyd.

Do stick insects have their own personalities? My boyfriend says I'm being daft but I am certain they do! My gang of four New Guinea stick insects all act differently, and Billie, my biggest female, is always the one who wants to walk the furthest when I handle them. Have scientific studies been done on this by you guys?
Here at Small-Life Supplies, we have bred and reared many generations of stick insects (of various species) for decades, and you are correct, it is possible to recognise that individual stick insects have different behaviours. Of course to be able to do this, you need to be in tune with the stick insects and have good observational skills, so it's great that you have this skill set. Billie sounds like a great character and so I hope she has a good long life with you, some of our New Guinea stick insects (Eurycantha calcarata) have achieved lifespans of three years! Regarding scientific studies on this topic, it is good that there is finally much more acceptance amongst biologists that all animals (including cats, birds etc) do have their own personalities. Of course many farmers and breeders of livestock have known this for decades, but some biologists still hold with the outdated (and incorrect) view that all animals only act out of instinct, or are somehow programmed.

It looks like one of the stick insects has died. It's lying on the bottom of the cage. We have carefully followed instructions, does this usually happen soon after delivery or have we done something wrong? Really worried we might lose more. She does seem pretty dead, hasn't moved for several hours. Please find attached photo. We received them two days ago.
Your photo shows a healthy adult Indian stick insect (Carausius morosus) in her classic defensive state, so she's looking like a straight stick, with all her legs clamped against her body. Therefore, the good news is your stick insect is not dead, she is just frightened and will have moved by tomorrow morning. It is natural for stick insects to be apprehensive when they go to a new home and so you can expect them to exhibit this defensive behaviour. When a stick insect is in this defensive stick mode it can be motionless for many hours, but will definitely have come out of this state by tomorrow morning and will probably be resting on the mesh side of the ELC cage. As the stick insects get used to their new surroundings and settle in, they will relax more and so you will see this defensive behaviour less and less, although sudden loud noises or a jolt to the cage may elicit it again.

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