Study on the Hatching Characteristics and Diet of the Stick Insect, Baculum elongatum (Phasmida: Phasmatidae) for Artificial Mass Rearing

Abstract

Baculum elongatum has several peculiarities such as parthenogenesis, unique external features, changing body color, and dropping oviposition, which makes it a potential economically useful insect. Oviposition was performed by females without fertilization by the sperm of males. The oviposition period was 42.2 ± 22.7 days and the number of eggs per female was 109.5 ± 70.5 eggs. The hatch rate was 73.3% at 25°C and 66.7% after low temperature treatment (8°C for 60 days). In nature, B. elongatum overwinters as an egg, but it can be assumed from the results that cold temperatures were not required for hatching. The hatch rate was 98.2% in the treatment using floral foam, fermented sawdust, and leaves.The developmental period was 100.9 ± 4.2 days for eggs, 55.3 ± 4.6 days for nymphs, and 49.7 ± 16.0 days for adults. The length of the eggs was 0.33 ± 0.0 cm and the lengths of the nymphs were clearly distinguishable according to the instar stage. Clover (Trifolium repens) was an excellent diet as it was similar to the host plant and could be used as an alternative diet. The rate of reaching adulthood for the insects was 66.7% on an artificial diet containing 25% acacia leaves. For sustainable mass rearing of nymphs or adults of B. elongatum, a natural diet could be used such as acacia (Robinia pseudoacacia), white oak (Quercus aliena), chestnut (Castanea crenata var. dulcis), and bush clover (Lespedeza bicolor), or an alternative diet such as clover or artificial diet.

Outbreak of the stick insect, Ramulus mikado (Phasmatodea, Phasmatidae), in the Akashina area of Japan (Azumino City, Nagano Prefecture)

“…Although the outbreak of stick insects in South Korea was initially reported as an outbreak of Baculum elongatum (Lee et al . 2013), thereafter Lee et al . (2018) treated B. elongatum as a junior synonym for the species Ramulus irregulariterdentatus .…”

Maximizing the hatchability of Locusta migratoria (Orthoptera: Acrididae) eggs under artificial hatching conditions

“…Baculum elongatum (Phasmida: Phasmatidae) egg hatchability in artificial mass-rearing conditions was not influenced by egg location, or the feed provided to the adults. For eggs surrounded by sawdust and leaves, hatchability was higher (92%) at 25°C compared with 20°C (85%) (Lee et al 2013). According to Geister et al (2008) in butterflies, the egg composition and hatching success for reproduction relied on not only larval-derived nutrients for production and somatic maintenance, but also on the complex interactions between storage reserves and adult diet.…”