Posts tagged Insects
Episode IV: A New Home
OK, actually the third post but the pun wouldn’t work otherwise! The larger stick insects have now been moved into a BSP cage (Small-Life Supplies) to give them more room to grow and a better environment, so that’s 15 moved into the BSP and a couple of first/second instars left in the jar to develop a bit more first and still a multitude of unhatched eggs in the other jar. As can be seen from the thumbnail their first reaction to being in a new airy, spacious mansion was to crowd together on one leaf but they have since spread out a lot more and are growing at a much faster rate than before. They have actually been in there for a week now and I gave it the first change of plants today which is a little more involved now, but as they get larger it will at least be easier and easier to spot them… if I haven’t already pointed it out, the biggest problem with stick insects is that, well, they look like sticks! (more…)
Shortened URL: http://go.dave-wood.org/2x
Stick Insects Update (1 month)
Follow up to my first post on stick insects. Most of the insects are approximately a month old or so now and have gone through a couple of moults. As can be seen from the photo below they are growing (couldn’t find a 5p coin today, so a 20p was used, diameter 21.4mm) but still a long way to go. Gait patterns still seem to be stuck rigidly to the tripod gait. The jar is now starting to get a bit crowded, and changing the plants has become tricky (they’re fast little buggers when they want to be) so next week I will be upgrading their accommodation next week to one of the excellent BSP Cages from Small Life Supplies, one of which I have been using at home for a while now. This will also give them the necessary room to moult successfully, as well as making it easier to care for them. Photos follow: (more…)
Shortened URL: http://go.dave-wood.org/2w
Stick Insects
We’ve had some stick insects (Carausius morosus) at home for a while, and it’s easy to see why they are the favoured species for laboratory tests on insects (along with the American Cockroach Periplaneta americana) since they are so easy to breed and care for. To plan ahead after eggs at home starting hatching 4-5 months after laying, I brought a jar with 30 or so eggs to my office thinking they would take a similar time, and 1 month later I come into work every day to find another couple of new hatchlings to transfer to the nursery (another jar until they get larger). I guess the conditions are good, and the jars don’t get picked up and shaken by excited children!
This quick post is to start documenting their development, and to comment on observations about their gait patterns as part of my research on insect locomotion. At present the recent hatchlings have only exhibited the classic “tripod gait” (see movie below) where three legs, configured as a tripod, are moved synchronously, followed by the other three half a period later but the adults at home have shown other typical gaits as well as some interesting gaits in an unfortunate 5 legged adult (lost legs can be recovered during moulting at earlier stages of development or “instars”). I guess this is making me an experimental biologist! (more…)
Shortened URL: http://go.dave-wood.org/d
XBugs
Received one of these as a gift fom a graduating tutee, and thought it was so cool it was worth a blog! These bugs come as a flat disc of aluminium, you twist out the pieces, fold and arrange them and then hold it all in place witha single nut and bolt (allen key provided!). As a bonus it comes with some mini bugs too. It’s a bit fiddly, and a little patience is required (not something I have in abundance) but the final product is pretty neat. You can find them on Amazon, or from the manufacturers website touchofginger.com, although I’ll warn you, they do lots of other cool stuff too (including other bugs) and you’ll spend ages looking through the pages. (more…)
Shortened URL: http://go.dave-wood.org/r
