Stuck Eggs Technique (SET)
by Bruno Kneubuehler
▷ simple, near-natural incubation techniques for phasmid species which stick their eggs into a substrate like leaves or twigs
- some phasmid species (e.g. Asceles, Loxopsis, Paraloxopsis) stick their eggs into leaves or twigs
- these eggs have a needle-like structure at the rear end, which makes it possible to pin them like a needle
- yet at times, such eggs have to be removed by the breeder and kept for incubation in a different location
- for this occasion I have developed the Stuck-Eggs- Technique, or just SET
- it is very easy, one only needs:
- something like Blue-Tack (which is a reusable putty-like pressure-sensitive adhesive, different products one can get from different manufacturers)
- a piece of thin, stiff plastic
- a cup-incubation unit - or your own incubation solution
How to use SET
- cut a stripe of the thin, stiff plastic
- press some of the Blue-Tack on that plastic stripe
- carefully press the eggs - with the pin-like structure first - onto the Blue-Tack
- then incubate eggs according to your normal routine
- be aware that eggs of such species do not need a very high humidity, as out in nature they are (most likely) in a dry place mostly
a variation of SET is to use a cotton wool stripe (cut from a cotton wool pad), which is glued to the plastic stripe with double-sided adhesive tape. The eggs will stick easily in the cotton wool, although not as firm as in Blue-Tack
