Diapheromera femorata ova care
- Thread starter Ralph
- Start date
Ralph
Panchlora
I'll get some up soon, when I'm not on the iPod! Put them up on Facebook but forgot about here. 
Anyway, I'm in Iowa (Quad Cities). I'm down to two of the little guys, and even they seem to be declining. Had been eating well and behaving normally, sitting on the walls and plants in characteristic walkingstick poses. These two now seem to be having difficulty climbing and spend most of their time near or on the floor... They also frequently arch their bodies and wave their legs lethargically. I'm still holding out that they'll improve and shed, and I was hoping that this update would have been with better news!
Anyway, I'm in Iowa (Quad Cities). I'm down to two of the little guys, and even they seem to be declining. Had been eating well and behaving normally, sitting on the walls and plants in characteristic walkingstick poses. These two now seem to be having difficulty climbing and spend most of their time near or on the floor... They also frequently arch their bodies and wave their legs lethargically. I'm still holding out that they'll improve and shed, and I was hoping that this update would have been with better news!
Ralph
Panchlora
Plastic with screen lid, like their parents were kept in.
I know a lot of the die-off is due to the unexpected hatching, but I wonder if the foodplants were insufficient. The wild population was found on some low plants around an apple tree, and they ate rose and blackberry after I took them in. But I wonder if some nutritional deficiency happened with these nymphs. The reason I didn't feed them those un-ID'ed wild plants was that they haven't grown in yet...
In what may be a related incident, I once raised some Microcentrum katydids on maple alone, and compared them to ones which were fed a variety of foodplants. The maple group ate a basically equivalent amount of foliage, but grew much more slowly and experienced "random" deaths which didn't occur in the group which ate several plant species.
I know a lot of the die-off is due to the unexpected hatching, but I wonder if the foodplants were insufficient. The wild population was found on some low plants around an apple tree, and they ate rose and blackberry after I took them in. But I wonder if some nutritional deficiency happened with these nymphs. The reason I didn't feed them those un-ID'ed wild plants was that they haven't grown in yet...
In what may be a related incident, I once raised some Microcentrum katydids on maple alone, and compared them to ones which were fed a variety of foodplants. The maple group ate a basically equivalent amount of foliage, but grew much more slowly and experienced "random" deaths which didn't occur in the group which ate several plant species.
Invertebrated
First Instar
I don't keep sticks personally but have friends that do. Nymphs are very susceptible to dehydration.
