How do you find walking sticks?!

[mantisfan101]

I have been searching everywhere for Diapheromera femorata but have found none...has anybody found them? If so could you please give me some help on how to catch them? I do not really care, either eggs, nymphs, adults..just no dead insects.

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

Coincidentally, I've captured seven D. femorata of various ages over the past three nights... I think I figured out a system for finding them.

What you gotta do is go out at night with a bright flashlight and shine it on vegetation. They're almost impossible to see during the day, but at night they move around and shining artificial light on them destroys their camouflage by highlighting the difference between them and their surroundings and focusing your vision on a smaller area. (This also works for other insects such as mantids, I recently found about 20 T. sinensis in a field where I'd never seen any before. I was looking for mantids when I stumbled across the first walkingstick.)

This will still be rather random unless you scope out a strategic hunting spot though. Look for a field- type spot where trees aren't too high, or look for a forest edge with young oak trees. Look up and determine whether the taller trees are oaks or not- if the trees are oaks, look somewhere else where the taller trees are pines or something. This is important because oak is their favorite foodplant, and if the only oak trees are at eye level they'll be there instead of high up in trees where you can never reach them.

The absolutely perfect spot would be a small oak tree that's near a wild black cherry or hazelnut tree- those are the preferred food plants of young nymphs, so older individuals are likely to be found on oak foliage in the vicinity. You can also look for small nymphs on cherry and hazelnut during the day, either by looking under leaves or with the use of a beating sheet. (once in a blue moon I come across a baby stick insect while collecting cherry leaves for my giant silkmoth caterpillars.)

Don't completely restrict your search to oak, hazel and black cherry though. They eat a fairly wide variety of plants and will move around in search of new trees to colonize.

 

[mantisfan101]

Ok, thank you. Fortunately there is a massive forest near me...somebody told me that they had seen 2 walkingsticks in their screen door about a year ago. I will try that method, and just a tip, but I heard that you can collect the ova (eggs) during September. Never give up!

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

Ok, thank you. Fortunately there is a massive forest near me...somebody told me that they had seen 2 walkingsticks in their screen door about a year ago. I will try that method, and just a tip, but I heard that you can collect the ova (eggs) during September. Never give up!

Do you mean from the walkingsticks I caught (which I have every intention of doing, two of them are already mating) or searching for eggs in the wild? Because you might have a better chance of finding a grain of sugar in a sandbox than finding walkingstick eggs on the ground. 

Worth noting that there is another species of stick insect in our area. Manomera blatchleyi. There isn't much info available on it, but from what I can gather it prefers low vegetation (living in overgrown fields and meadows rather than forests) and grows larger than Diapheromera femorata. It's also more attractive IMO, there's a few pictures of specimens people have kept in this forum section. I've only seen it once (didn't know the difference between the species at the time) but I hope to find it again and try keeping them. Since it always lives on low vegetation I imagine it's probably easier to find with the method I described once you've located its habitat.

 

[mantisfan101]

Hmm I will definitely keep my eyes peeled for these species.. do you know what kind of plants they prefer?

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

Hmm I will definitely keep my eyes peeled for these species.. do you know what kind of plants they prefer?

No idea. I assume they'll eat bramble in captivity like most stick insects, but I don't know what sort of plants you'd be most likely to see them on in the wild.

 

[Peter Clausen]

I find them easiest by using a heavy duty sweep net, swung through tall grasses in areas where stick-insects are known to occur.

 

[mantisfan101]

Thanks, I'll try that but probably next year since it's getting colder...

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

Thanks, I'll try that but probably next year since it's getting colder...

Oh, it's still warm enough to find stick insects. They even survive frost.

 

[CosbyArt]

@mantisfan101 Indeed don't give up. It took me many years to find my first one, but since then I tend to find them at least once per year.

Also let your friends, neighbors, and anyone else know you are looking for them. That could lead to someone giving you a call to come collect one.

Not sure of your location but here is a site that lists phasmid species by US states. Interestingly enough the Giant Walkingstick (Megaphasma denticrus) is listed for many states including mine. I know another thing to look for this coming year as it has been spotted near me.

 

[mantisfan101]

Sweet! I for one am really interested in M. Blatchleyi but how do find them???

 

[CosbyArt]

@mantisfan101 For me I've found them on houses, through friends/neighbors, and my insect nets or beating sheet in fields. Using a net or beating sheet I tend to see more walkingsticks, and assassin bugs, when I am in tall weed clearings in wooded areas (such as those cut out for power lines). The more time I am out collecting mantids, and such, the more I come across walkingsticks too. It seems to be a bit of luck being in the right area to find them, and lots of time collecting to come across them.

The flashlight at night idea by Salmonsaladsandwich above sounds interesting too; however, it still means you have to get out there and be in the right area, but might make seeing them easier rather than finding them in your net/sheet.

 

[mantisfan101]

Nice! Definitely going to try that! Also, how high shouldnthe gras be? Also, do the males have wings and if so do they fly to l8ghts? Thanks again!

 

[CosbyArt]

Nice! Definitely going to try that! Also, how high shouldnthe gras be? Also, do the males have wings and if so do they fly to l8ghts? Thanks again!

The grass when in such areas around me tends to be about 2' to 5'+ tall depending on grass species (Fescue is tall fully grown), but the weeds and small trees/saplings tend to be about 5' to 6' in the area. I find most walkingsticks near the small trees, as most eat tree leaves, but some are also near tall sweet clover and such.

Nope no wings on nearly all US walking sticks on either gender, see here for details.

 

[beetles]

fascinating thread, I would also love to find a female and start a colony of native phasmids. I and a friend have found ~6 over the years in a stand of locust trees in Tompkins Co., which I think is also a preferred host, but all were either juvenile or already adult males. I'm guessing the females are much higher up in the tall trees. any hints would be appreciated, I'll be looking in the Finger Lakes area mostly in NY

 

[Orin]

Diapheromera are not a super easy species. Manomera are very easy and are also from your area. I found a few on vegetation near a river over a a few times but never found any there again.