Are Walking Stick Bugs a threat to my bammboo?

[Powerhead]

Last night I found a mating pair of Anisomorpha buprestoides - Two-striped Walkingstick bugs on my jeans after watering my bamboo.

After chasing my kids around the house with them and giving them a good looking over, I threw them in the canal.

So, one can only imagine how happy I was this morning after I researched them to find out they can spray ?with great accuracy? a stream of blinding poison. Did I mention I chased my kids around the house with them?

OK, the write-ups on this little beast were not the greatest. But, I could not find any info on what they eat.

Does anyone have problems with walking sticks or grass hoppers eating their bamboo? This pair would be number 2 and 3 for my plants and quite a few grass hoppers have been sprayed off and stomped on already.

On another note, my bamboo is growing great right next to the canal.

I?ll post some infant and up-to-date pictures as soon as I can figure out how to post them on this site. (HELP PLEASE!)

Any advice would be helpful for the bugs and the pictures.

Thanks Again,

Rick in Key West

[Roy]

Last night I found a mating pair of Anisomorpha buprestoides - Two-striped Walkingstick bugs on my jeans after watering my bamboo.

After chasing my kids around the house with them and giving them a good looking over, I threw them in the canal.

So, one can only imagine how happy I was this morning after I researched them to find out they can spray ?with great accuracy? a stream of blinding poison. Did I mention I chased my kids around the house with them?

OK, the write-ups on this little beast were not the greatest. But, I could not find any info on what they eat.

Does anyone have problems with walking sticks or grass hoppers eating their bamboo? This pair would be number 2 and 3 for my plants and quite a few grass hoppers have been sprayed off and stomped on already.

On another note, my bamboo is growing great right next to the canal.

I?ll post some infant and up-to-date pictures as soon as I can figure out how to post them on this site. (HELP PLEASE!)

Any advice would be helpful for the bugs and the pictures.

Thanks Again,

Rick in Key West

Did it look anything like this one:

[mantis]

Caterpillars like my B. v. 'Vittata'.

[Powerhead]

Thanks Roy,

No and Yes. The pair I found the other night did not look like that. But, the first one I fund did. If you paste (Anisomorpha buprestoides - Two-striped Walking stick) in the google search box it will come up with a few sites. Nasty looking things.

At first I thought it was a member of the preying mantis family. I guess that's what I get for thought'in.

Any pointers on posting those pictures? I've got a bunch.

Thanks again,
Rick

[Roy]

Thanks Roy,

No and Yes. The pair I found the other night did not look like that. But, the first one I fund did. If you paste (Anisomorpha buprestoides - Two-striped Walking stick) in the google search box it will come up with a few sites. Nasty looking things.

At first I thought it was a member of the preying mantis family. I guess that's what I get for thought'in.

Any pointers on posting those pictures? I've got a bunch.

Thanks again,
Rick

To upload your bamboo pictures, use this link:

http://bambooweb.info/PicEntry.php

[ChrisM]

I use to breed and exhibit that species, at the zoo I worked at, as well as published a husbandry article about them. They pose little threat to your boo. You and pets on the other hand is a different story. Their spray is like an atomized mist that has a cinnamon-like smell that irritates any mucous membrane. There are accounts of permanent corneal damage to dogs that I remember reading. But dogs can be gluttons for repeat exposure.
They are folivores, but of the 30+ species of walking sticks I worked with over the years I never had any that took to boo. Preferring bramble(blackberry/dewberry), wax myrtle, oak, tallow, roses, and a few others. Unless you were in plague-like circumstances with limited food supplies, I wouldn't worry about them. They do show up in numbers in the summer as they mature and begin breeding, but usually only live 9-12 months or as the seasons allow.
Chris

[Powerhead]

Thanks Chris.

My Min-Pin would be the one that gets the spray. He kills everything. Lizards, birds, bugs, My kids pet turtles whatever he can get his little teeth on.