{"id":3013,"date":"2017-07-24T23:55:17","date_gmt":"2017-07-24T13:55:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gosciencekids.com\/?p=3013"},"modified":"2019-12-17T14:01:21","modified_gmt":"2019-12-17T03:01:21","slug":"spiny-leaf-phasmid-insect-pet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gosciencekids.com\/spiny-leaf-phasmid-insect-pet\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Spiny Leaf Phasmids Make Great Insect Pets {and how to make a DIY enclosure!}"},"content":{"rendered":"

How (and why) spiny leaf phasmid insects make fun, easy and educational pets for young kids. They’re a great way to encourage an interest in entomology and a love of nature<\/a>.
\n<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Phasmid<\/p>\n

We’ve had pet spiny leaf phasmids (a type of camouflage or stick insect) for about 4 years now. They make awesome pets! Let me share with you why<\/em> I think they’re awesome pets for kids, and how<\/em> to look after them easily (and cheaply).<\/p>\n

\n

Suitable for<\/h3>\n

Spiny leaf insects are a great pet option for kids of all ages.<\/p>\n

Babies and toddlers<\/a> can safely watch them inside the enclosure, which can be brought down to their level, and then put back out of reach again. Once they are able to be gentle, they can stroke them or let them walk on their clothing or arm. (My youngest daughter was about 1.5 years old when we first brought phasmids home. She loved them then, and still does now!)<\/p>\n

Phasmids are also great for preschoolers<\/a>. I’ve brought phasmids in to visit preschool on several occasions. The kids can study them through the enclosure, and those brave enough can take turns handling them (with close supervision).<\/p>\n

Phasmids make great pets for older kids too – who might take on more of the responsibility of caring for them. My eldest daughter is 7 years old<\/a> now, and she still loves showing off her pet insects to her friends (although she hasn’t quite taken on the responsibility part yet!)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"Toddler<\/p>\n

Having phasmids as pets is a great way to expose kids to biology<\/a> (the study of living organisms) and entomology<\/span> (the study of insects) in a caring and nurturing way. They’re safe for little kids to touch, as they don’t bite or sting. Plus, did I mention they’re easy to look after?<\/p>\n

But first, in case you’re wondering what on earth<\/em> phasmids are?<\/p>\n

Phasmids are insects that eat leaves, and resemble leaves or sticks for camouflage. There are about 3000 species of phasmid worldwide. Many are referred to as stick insects, stick-bugs or walking sticks. The ones we have are spiny leaf phasmids (also known as Macleay\u2019s Spectre).<\/p>\n

\"Male<\/p>\n

I can show you how to set up a DIY portable phasmid enclosure, for just a few dollars! But before we get into how<\/em> to look after them, let me tell you a little bit about them – they’re really cool!<\/p>\n

\"adult<\/p>\n

\n

The {Fascinating} Life Cycle of a Spiny Leaf Phasmid<\/h2>\n

Spiny leaf phasmids go though an incomplete metamorphosis – that is they have only three stages of their life cycle: egg, nymph and adult. But there’s two really cool things about spiny leaf phasmids: the relationship they have with the ants, and how they can clone themselves! Let me explain….<\/p>\n

Egg:<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Adult females lay a single egg, about once a day or so. These eggs have a sweet knob on one end. In the ‘wild’, eggs fall to the ground, where they are picked up by ants, and carried back to their nest. The ants eat the sweet knob (yum!), and leave the rest of the egg in their nest, thus offering the egg protection from predators who might be leery of an ant bite. Ant nests are also sandy, which provides the eggs with the dry environment they need to hatch. Baby nymphs look, and act, very similar to red-headed black ants (but with curlier tails) which is their first form of camouflage.<\/p>\n

This relationship with ants is called a “symbiotic relationship”. Both species benefit – the ants gets a free meal, and the phasmids gain protection, an appropriate egg-hatching environment, and initial camouflage.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Four<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

Nymph: <\/strong><\/h3>\n

Nymph spiny leaf phasmids leave the ants nest and quickly climb a tree, where they’ll spend the rest of their lives. They eat leaves, and drink rain drops or dew. They first molt (shed their outer skin or exoskeleton) when they are a just few days old, and change from looking like an ant, to looking like a dried up old leaf. If scared, they sway, to look like a leaf blowing in the breeze. They continue to grow and molt until they reach adult size.<\/p>\n

\"Baby<\/p>\n

\"Female<\/h3>\n

\"Molted<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

Adult: <\/strong><\/h3>\n

Spiny leaf insects change in appearance quite significantly with their last molt. The adult males are dark grey\/brown colour, with thin straight bodies and long wings. They can fly short distances. The females are much larger, with thick clay coloured bodies with spiky lumps along their backs, a curled tail and very small wings, which are ineffective, as the females can’t fly. But here’s another cool bit. Adult females lay about an egg a day, but they don’t need a male to fertilise them necessarily, because they’re able to clone themselves<\/em>, in a process called parthenogenesis. (So cool!)<\/em> With spiny leaf phasmids, only female offspring can be produced through parthenogenesis. (Fertilised eggs on the other hand, can produce either male or female offspring).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"Adult<\/p>\n

\"Adult<\/h2>\n

But what makes spiny leaf phasmids such great pets?<\/h2>\n

I’m glad you asked!<\/p>\n

One reason they’re great as pets is because they’re safe for little kids to handle. They don’t bite or sting. Their whole defence mechanism is camouflage – so if they get scared, they just sway trying to look like a leaf in the breeze.<\/p>\n

\"Why<\/p>\n

The only tricky thing is that they are rather fragile. You have to teach kids not to use their fingers to pick phasmids up (lest they squish them or tear off a leg), but rather to let the phasmid walk on themselves.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Phasmids instinctively want to move forwards and upwards, so if you just put your hand (or any other object) slightly above and in front of them, they\u2019ll generally step up of their own accord. And they are very good at hanging on, actually preferring to be vertical or upside down.<\/p>\n

Some kids don’t like the feeling of phasmids walking on their skin – it can feel like a tickle (for younger nymphs and males) or feel a bit prickly (for the adult females). Many kids might prefer to just look, tough gently with their finger, or let the phasmids walk on their clothes instead of directly on their skin. If a leg does get torn off (eep!), phasmids can actually regrow their lost limbs (which is kinda cool in an unfortunate way.)<\/p>\n

\"Spiny<\/p>\n

Another reason spiny leaf insects make great pets is that they don’t need much day-to-day care. Once you have your enclosure set up, it takes about 20 minutes, 2-3 times a week to replace their leaves and clean out their enclosure, plus a few seconds a day to give them a quick water spray to drink.<\/p>\n

A third reason, is that looking after phasmids encourages kids to love nature<\/a>! These insects are a great gateway to learning about habitats, life cycles, metamorphosis, the food chain, parthenogenesis, insect body structure, camouflage, and much more!<\/p>\n

\"Spiny<\/p>\n

A fourth reason, is that its really easy to make a light-weight and portable<\/em> enclosure. Our enclosure is light enough that my 4 year old can hold it on her lap in the car. This means you can take your phasmids with you to visit preschool! It also means you can take your phasmids to a friend’s house for them to pet-sit while you’re on holidays (or you could even take your phasmids on vacation with you.)<\/p>\n

How to set up an easy, portable (and affordable) phasmid insect enclosure<\/h2>\n

Contains affiliate links*<\/sup> to similar products. Thanks for your support.<\/span><\/p>\n

We’ve tried out several different phasmid insect enclosure designs<\/a> over the past few years, and below is the type we’ve found to be the most effective. This design lets you keep the phasmids indoors, gives easy access to replace the leaves, allows lots of air flow, and is light-weight and portable.<\/p>\n

\"New<\/p>\n

You’ll need:<\/p>\n