I love stick insects. I always wonder though; how dangerous they are especially to humans. My curiosity left me with no choice but to research on whether stick insects actually hurt and how dangerous they are to humans.
So, can stick insects hurt you? Many stick insect species are harmless and can’t hurt you. They aren’t poisonous or toxic and they also don’t bite because their mandibles aren’t designed to chew on anything else apart from plant matter. Stick insects are actually shy and don’t secrete any unique or special chemical as a defense mechanism. These are some of the main factors that make them perfect pets.
Many stick insect lovers often think that stick insects can be harmful. This has a lot to do with the fact that many stick insect species actually look scary and somewhat dangerous. Looks can be deceiving though, because it turns out that stick insects are actually harmless.
Do stick insects bite humans?
Stick insects don’t bite humans, even if they wanted to, they couldn’t. As they have what looks like tough mandibles which are actually weak. These mandibles and other mouth parts of stick insects aren’t designed to bite on anything else other than plant matter. This makes it very difficult for stick insects to bite humans.
It is important to note that there are more than 3000 species of stick insects known to man. If you are stick insect lover, you’ll most likely be spoilt for choice over which stick insect to go for. The best you can do is try to learn one or two things about different stick insect species. Only then will you be able to pick one you can comfortably take care of.
Let’s take a look at some of the larger stick insects, to see which ones are safe to keep as pets. As some of these stick insects irrespective of their size can still be harmless to humans and won’t bite.
The Giant Prickly Stick Insect
Like many other stick insect species, the giant prickly stick insect isn’t dangerous to humans. However, it features an array of defense mechanisms to protect itself from dangerous predators like chameleons and lizards.
To protect itself, the giant prickly stick insect uses thorny spikes on its hind legs, which it also uses when catching prey by snapping. It raises back the legs to mimic a scorpion and appear larger.
The Giant Prickly stick insects, also known as the Extatosoma tiaratum or Macleay’s Spectre, hails from Australia and like its cousin the Indian Stick insect, it can reproduce without its male counterpart.
Interestingly, the giant prickly stick insect features different colors from red and green to white and brown. Male species tend to be smaller in size, measuring approximately 9cm while females can measure as much as 20cm.
Females don’t usually fly mostly because of the fact that they are large and often carry lots of eggs. This is hardly ever the case with males which have strong wings and are lighter. Males are, therefore, adept to flying.
The Giant Spiny Stick Insect
The Giant spiny stick insect isn’t dangerous. It isn’t poisonous as well. To protect itself from predators, it uses it thorny body armor. Strangely though, giant spiny stick insects prefer avoiding detection in the first place, to fighting off predators. When under threat, it will fight feign death by going rigid.
The giant spiny stick insect otherwise known as the Papua New Guinea Stick insect or the Spiny Devil, the Giant Spiny Stick Insect is also huge is size. Their tough bodies as well as resistance to extreme weather conditions make them ideal pets. They also range in color from pale green to brown. They are extremely good at camouflaging tree barks and rotten wood.
Neither the female nor the male Giant spiny stick insect has wings. They are, therefore, easy targets for predators. To make up for such vulnerability they happen to be extremely good at camouflaging as already mentioned. As with most stick insect species, males are usually smaller than females. While meals grow to around 12 cm in length, females grow to as much as 15 cm.
The Walk Bean
Walk Beans aren’t dangerous. They can’t hurt humans and certainly other animals. When under threat, they’ll just jump away as this is their only form defense.
The Walk Bean, or the Diapherodes gigantean traces its origins to the Caribbean. Female species can grow to as much as 16cm while male species can grow to around 11cm. Apart from size, females are also conspicuous in color, with their trademark green color to mimic fresh leaves.
Males on the other hand are brown in color with tiny, green spots. Females also feature rows of pink spines on their back legs with wings that remain underdeveloped throughout their lifespans. Males have both hind and fore wings but can’t fly. They can, however, make long jumps.
The Black Beauty
When under threat, the black velvet sprays a unique chemical from glands behind the head. Once the chemical comes into contact with the human skin it irritates it for hours. It gets worse where the chemical gets into the eyes where it can easily cause blurry vision for a while. Only experienced stick insect lovers should keep the black velvet stick insect as pets.
The black beauty also known as Peruphasma schultei or the Black Velvet, traces its origin to Nothern Peru. Although it has bright red wings, it is predominantly white in color. It also can’t fly, despite its huge wings.
Female black beauties grow to as much as 7cm while males only grow to about 5cm. Their unique appearance makes them extremely popular pets in Northern Peru. Unfortunately, black velvet stick insects can be quite dangerous. They can and often poison their predators.
The Jungle Nymph
Just like the black velvet, jungle nymph stick insects are capable of inflicting harm on humans. They aren’t poisonous though. Females rise up on their front legs and keep their hind legs in the air. They then snap the hind legs together. This is usually enough to harm a predator because the back legs are covered with large, sharp spines.
The spines are strong enough to poke the human skin and draw blood. Female jungle nymphs also make loud rustling noise with their wings so as to deter predators. All these factors and more means they aren’t ideal pets especially for children.
The jungle nymph isn’t your ordinary stick insect. The female jungle nymph is conspicuously bright green with a very wide body, which is unlike many stick insects. Males on the other hand are dark brown with long, slender bodies complete with long wings that extend to completely cover the length of their bodies.
You certainly won’t see the jungle nymph stick insect during the day since it is nocturnal. They however, become extremely active at night. If you’re to keep one as a pet, make sure it’s enclosure features extremely dark hiding spaces.
The Vietnamese Stick Insect
The Vietnamese stick insect doesn’t protect itself aggressively but rather by way of camouflage. They are also known to play dead so as not to attract the attention of predators. They make perfect pets as they are completely harmless.
Of all stick insect species, this is possibly the most delicate one. It is also long and thin complete with small yet harmless spines on their abdomen. To protect itself from predators, the Vietnamese stick insect will keep calm before walking slowly in a wobbly fashion so as to mimic a dry twig.
Wrap Up
There are so many species of stick insects that can make perfect pets. Most of them are harmless. That is to say they can’t bite you or inflict any form of harm on you. Your best bet is to therefore, go for a species you are certain is harmless and treat it well.
