e-Newsletter
BT Young Scientist 2010 - a student describes his project
Exotic pets could they be a threat?
Connor Hynes, Confey College
My project examines the possibility of exotic pets posing a threat to native flora and fauna by carrying out scientific investigations using stick insects. My project began in July 2008 when I received ten Indian stick-insects. I was told that they had to be kept in warm humid conditions. However they were left for two weeks in about 18C. This prompted me to question the possibility of them adapting to our climate and the possible effect this could have on nature if they escaped into the wild.
Aim:
To investigate if stick-insects can adapt to our climate and pose a threat to native flora and fauna.
Method:
I carried out five experiments to determine if stick-insects can adapt to our climate.
Experiment 1: To discover if stick-insects can change from eating one type of leaf to another without any ill effects.
Experiment 2: To determine the coolest temperature in which stick-insects can survive.
Experiment 3: To calculate the average number of eggs that a stick-insect lays daily and the effects if any that temperature might have.
Experiment 4: To determine how much food a fully grown adult consumes in a warm climate and in a cool climate.
Experiment 5: To determine if stick-insect eggs can overwinter and hatch when the temperature increases again.
Results and Conclusions
Stick-insects can survive lower temperatures but the cold winter will kill them. They can eat a variety of native vegetation. Stick-insects lay a vast amount of eggs in their short lifetime. They also consume a vast amount of foliage. They have the potential to do enormous damage to vegetation only if they exist in huge numbers. This factor is dependent on the eggs surviving through the winter and hatching next season.
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