Creature Feature

The human Tarzan swings across the jungle on rope-type plants ... so maybe your lovely stick insect has some similar moves in mind to travel across to his Twiggy friend.....Lol.

Good blog, Bbumble :o)

Love it Bbb, Perhaps a little matchmaking on your part might not be out of the question?

Then there'll hopefully be lots of little twiglets lol

the males and females are similar in size and we used to have them in the science labs at school. the females release little [1mm diam] round brown eggs on the ground. they hatch as mini stick insects and have a series of moults getting bigger each time until fully grown. I have noticed them on privet before but not for a long time. well spotted by the way. :o)

Thanks folks.
I did think of that Ian, but I couldn't catch the blighter. But then perhaps it's just as well. There is a possibility that they're both the same sex. Only another stick insect would know! If I'd put them together, would one have killed the other, or are they gregarious? Discretion being the better part of valour, I decided to leave well alone in the end.

I didn't know that they could survive outside in the UK - obviously they can.
You might want to check what they feed on before you encourage too much romance, Bbb, you don't want to encourage the locust effect in your garden.

they tend to be happy with each other as we had 20+ in a tank at school with privet leaves/twigs as food.
you can sex them by looking at their 'bottoms' they are a different shape but i cant remember which shape is which now. too many years ago.:o)

Thanks Sbg. I'm digesting all this useful info. along with the sandwich I'm eating at the mo.
So, speaking logically, if the ends are the same shape, they must be the same sex?
Twiggy seems quite happy on a diet of Lonicera, B/holic, and on his/her own, doesn't seem to be doing much damage. Saves me having to clip it! And the Weigela needs pruning anyway, but you have made a good point. I'll keep my eyes open.

Good blog BB :)

Fascinating blog, not sure how I would feel if I found some in my garden tho..........

oh wow , thats brilliant BB. makes me think what else is living in our gardens that we havent spotted

I didn't know they lived outside here either. I wonder if I'll ever see any here ?

As Bulbaholic says ...you wouldn't think it was warm enough for these little sticky guys in this country...good for them! How do you ever find them?!

I'm just picturing you now....staring at stick insects bottoms! :0)

I've stared at worse things Fluff. I used to be a nurse in geriatrics!

Omg! Yes I see your point!

I missed the earlier post Bbb, do you know how Twiggy and friend(s) came to be in the garden in the first place? Are they common in Cornwall?

Your interest is appreciated B/holic.
Although they're not common as in widespread, there are areas of Cornwall where there are sufficient numbers for them not to raise comment. The largest concentration is in the Falmouth area, but how these two came to be in my garden I've no idea. It's fifteen, nearly sixteen years since I moved here from Falmouth.
The only thing I can think of is that the eggs may have been in something I bought from the market or a local nursery.
I doubt whether they would survive in the wild further up country, as this area has a comparatively mild climate, favoured by the Gulf stream. I'm still trying to find out how they survive the winters here, as we do get the occasional hard frost, and this year we had snow!

Thanks for this Bbb had no idea they would be able to survive in our climate outdoors.

Dont think I ll ever be able to munch on a twiglet again ..thanks Aster lol

Mmm just bought some on offer in Tesco today,had a little chuckle when I thought of twiggy :))

No wonder they on offer Aster ..can just see the headlines Goyer causes price crash in Twiglet market .. a spokeman blames unfair competition having been under cut by introduction of flavoured stick insects mm enjoy lol

Brilliant Bb! Lol and long. (I wonder what they DO taste like) Blyeah:¬~((

Bet they're not as crunchy lol Hope you've had your teas ! :))