Stick insects are interesting insects and many people choose them as their preferred foray into keeping insects. It makes sense as stick insects are easy to look after and are fairly cheap to buy.
Here’s 11 shocking things you should know about the lifestyle and reproductive habits of stick insects.
1. How many babies do stick insects have?
Depending on the stick insect species, the adult females can lay anywhere between a single egg to several eggs after mating, potentially producing many one to several babies. Stick insects can mate everyday and produce eggs every time.
Indian stick insect species, also known as laboratory stick insect, is one of the most popular species kept as pets and the female of this species can be a prolific layer of eggs. Laying thousands of eggs over their lifetime, leading to populations increasing rapidly.
This can become problematic when they are kept as pets, as having to look after large colonies of stick insects becomes more difficult. So, many pet owners try to obtain the male of the species as they can’t reproduce without mating.
In fact, mating isn’t necessarily required, as some species of stick insect have females that can reproduce without requiring a male to fertilize eggs, as they are parthenogenic.
2. Do stick insects eat their mate?
Those species of stick insect that do mate, do not end up eating their mate. They will breed several times during their lifetime and the female will produce many eggs that will be fertilized by the male stick insect.
Some species of stick insects can be confused with praying mantises, as they bear some resemblance to the same physical features and this is why some people assume that as the praying mantis females commonly do eat their mate after mating, that stick insects do the same, which isn’t the case.
The species that can reproduce without mating, doesn’t require a male to fertilize their eggs and end up producing entirely female offspring.
3. Do stick insects die after laying eggs?
Female stick insects don’t die after they have finished laying their eggs and will go on laying more eggs throughout their adult life. Stick insects can lay eggs everyday, with some species only laying a single egg, whilst others can lay several eggs each day. Females that reproduce asexually using the process of parthogenesis, can lay eggs regularly through the course of their lifespan without requiring male stick insects to fertilize the eggs.
Depending on the species of stick insect, the eggs laid can take from two months to several months before they hatch. With some species of stick insect anchoring their laid eggs to leaves and twigs or to the floor or sides of their enclosure. Whilst others allow their eggs to drop to the floor of their enclosure.
In the wild stick insect eggs may end up in the ground and when plants in the ground are removed for consumption, this can often lead to stick insects in the accompanying soil being displaced from the ground. Leading to these eggs ending up moving to where the plant is taken, this in itself can lead to stick insects hatching in different areas. Allowing stick insects to spread over a wider area.
Females that reproduce asexually using the process of parthogenesis, can lay eggs regularly through the course of their lifespan without requiring male stick insects to fertilize the eggs.
In climates where the weather conditions change from warm to a cold climate, stick insects might only lay eggs during the spring and summer months or may lay eggs in colder months that only hatch in the warmer months of spring and summer.
4. What are baby stick insects called?
Baby stick insects are called nymphs and they can stay in this state for several months before becoming adults. It depends on the species of stick insect for the time it takes for the nymphs to mature into adulthood.
Some species of stick insect can have eggs hatch in the spring and by the summer these nymphs can have grown in young adults. With the ability to reproduce and lay eggs within weeks of reaching young adulthood.
Nymphs born from pathogenesis, that is from an unfertilized egg, will be females whilst those nymphs from fertilized eggs will be a mix of male and female.
5. Are all stick insects female?
Stick insects are not all female and include male stick insects as well. Female stick insects from some species can breed with male stick insects to produce mixed offspring of males and females.
Colonies where there are only female stick insects, can use parthenogenesis, a form of asexual reproduction, where the female stick insects reproduce without requiring a male stick insect to fertilize the eggs laid.
Females who reproduce through parthenogenesis lay eggs which hatch as clones of the female who laid the eggs, resulting in female offspring. This can lead to large colonies of female only stick insects.
6. Are stick insects hermaphrodites?
Stick insects do not possess both male and female reproductive organs so are not hermaphrodites. Male stick insects have male genitalia and female stick insects have female genitalia.
Female stick insects from some species can reproduce without requiring a male to fertilize her eggs through parthenogenesis. This is probably the main reason why people assume stick insects could be hermaphrodites, as there is no male involved in the reproduction. However, this has nothing to with stick insects having both male and female reproductive organs but instead relies on the mechanics of parthogenesis.
7. Do stick insects reproduce asexually?
Some stick insect species do reproduce asexually using a process known as parthogenesis, where the female stick insect’s eggs can hatch into nymphs without requiring the eggs to be fertilized by a male stick insect. The offspring from parthogenesis is always female and are clones of their mother.
Asexual reproduction can lead to large colonies of female only stick insects, which get larger as more parthogenesis type reproduction increases the number of female stick insects. As on each occasion the female stick insect can lay several eggs, sometimes laying eggs everyday, compoundly increasing the number of female offspring born.
8. Are stick insects rare?
Some species like the Lord Howe Island stick insect are rare as numbers verged on extinction but many zoos are running programs to bring their populations back up to sustainable levels. Other species like the Indian stick insect (also known as the laboratory stick insect), unarmed stick insect, prickly stick insect, smooth stick insect to the Mediterranean stick insect are abundant.
Male stick insects are rarer than female stick insects as they are not needed for reproduction by most species of stick insect. Parthenogenesis means female stick insects can lay eggs that don’t need a male to fertilize them in order for them to hatch.
9. Do stick insects get lonely?
Even though stick insects can live in colonies, they can still survive alone in the wild and when kept as pets. This means they don’t get lonely when kept in solitary confinement in their enclosure and still exhibit the same lifestyle of inactivity during the day followed by feeding activity during the night.
In the wild, stick insects can survive without living in colonies without requiring a companion. Only coming together with opposite members of the sex for reproduction purposes only.
In some places where ideal conditions are restricted to small areas, stick insects can live in the vicinity of others as space with the correct climate conditions is scarce.
10. Are stick insects solitary?
Stick insects are not solely solitary when they live in the wild and tend to live in colonies especially if they are the offspring of parthogenesis type reproduction. Where they are clones of their mother from asexual reproduction.
That being said, stick insects can live in isolation from other stick insects and survive, only requiring contact with other stick insects of the opposite sex for breeding.
When kept in captivity as pets, they can be kept in isolation from other stick insects and this doesn’t affect their lifespan as they can outlive stick insects who live in the wild.
11. Are stick insects territorial?
Stick insects can become territorial when coming across other species they are unfamiliar with or when it comes to mating and another male stick insect of the same species is trying to mate with a female stick insect.
Generally speaking, stick insects from the same species are better suited to living together than with other species and can live in colonies. With large colonies of female only stick insects reproduced primarily from parthogenesis surviving without any territorial issues, as this offspring can be off a single female stick insect.
Stick insects are fascinating creatures and their popularity as pets highlights this. With so many species available as pets, understanding more about each of the species makes sense before making the decision before taking the plunge and buying one as a pet.
