Discover the Fascinating World of 'Specials'

Introductory Insect School Pack

This school pack contains products for getting acquainted with insects and is specially intended for schools, childcare, childminders, and child-focused institutions. Learn more about insects in a fun and educational way.

Contents of the package

The package contains the following products and components:

- Gel ant farm including ants.
- Bugzzz insect habitat including 2x Indian stick insect nymphs (feeds on ivy)
- Breeding net including nymph variation (could be Indian stick insect, Australian leaf insect, black beauty, etc.)
- Life cycle of 3 different insects.
- 30 stickers for the children in the class or group (more available on request).
- Lesson instructions (3x).
- Butterfly breeding kit including caterpillars (you order the caterpillars yourself with a voucher in the pack, you only pay the international shipping costs, see explanation below).

1) Gel Ant Farm, offer including ant colony

Gel Ant Farm

Let the ants do their work and watch a complete structure emerge! The gel ant farm is a high-tech habitat for ants. Based on the technology NASA used to study life in a weightless environment. It is completely self-sustaining; the beautiful transparent gel serves as food, moisture, and shelter. The only thing you need to add to the ant farm (16.5 x 15.2 x 3.2 cm) are the ants themselves.

Included:

- Blue Gel Ant Farm
- Ant colony with approximately 15 Spanish worker ants
- Magnifying glass
- User instructions
- Booklet "Ants are Heroes"

2.) Your Own Indoor Butterfly Garden

Become part of nature and witness the wonder of a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly. Up close and personal!

Shipping and care

The school package is in stock and immediately available. You will usually receive 5 fresh caterpillars and special food from our breeder in about a week (in some cases this may take a little longer, depending on breeding). Now you can really get started. Butterfly breeding is possible from March to September.

First, the caterpillars get their own food (supplied) so they can grow well. Then they hang upside down in crystal-like spun cocoons. In the final phase, they emerge as beautiful butterflies. Observe them for a few days and then release them.

What's in the Butterfly Kit

• Foldable and openable 30 cm Habitat
• Pipette for feeding the caterpillars
• Complete comprehensive instructions, multilingual user manual (also in Dutch)
• You will find a coupon for 3-5 caterpillars in the package, which you can order online for a shipping fee (paypal/credit card). You can select a delivery time yourself.

3a.) BUGzzz Insect Breeding Jar (incl. stick insect nymph)

Breed your insects in an excellent habitat

A beautiful, large, and super-transparent habitat where your insects are very clearly visible. A well-ventilated lid with the logo ensures the best conditions for your new pet. You can house multiple animals in this unique enclosure. Particularly ideal for breeding praying mantises, stick insects, leaf insects, snails, worms, and ladybugs.

Specifications

We supply the jar including a ventilated lid. The interior can be arranged as you wish. The photos provide clear examples of the possibilities. Decorative stones and artificial plants are available on our website. We supply the decorative stones in anthracite or yellow (depending on stock).

3b.) Breeding Cage Net Cage (incl. stick insect nymph)

Convenient

This breeding cage is a super convenient cage for stick insects, praying mantises, butterflies, and caterpillars. It is a lightweight cage made of sturdy mesh in a small size: 30 cm high, 30 cm wide, and 30 cm deep.

20-50 fruit flies  

Good for beginner ant colonies, young praying mantises, and various frog species due to their nutrients. A combination of fruit flies and sugar water (or honey) is a good basic food for an ant colony!

These fruit flies have been bred so they cannot fly, making them easy to feed to the colony.

The flies are delivered in a test tube and are intended for immediate feeding. They can also be frozen and offered later (for up to several weeks). You can also breed them. In that case, prepare a suitable culture medium in a container and provide paper strips for the flies to climb on. Immediately upon receipt, place the flies in the container with this culture medium.

Please note! We cannot guarantee live arrival of the fruit flies. If you need live fruit flies, you should purchase a fruit fly breeding kit.

Artificial Ivy

Perfect for the insect enclosure. Artificial ivy made of plastic with a natural look. Virtually indistinguishable from real ivy.

Suitable as decoration for any insect enclosure. Your enclosure will always have a natural, green appearance!

Also important: artificial plants provide continuously stable climbing opportunities and shelter for your animals.

Size: 30 to 50 cm

Snail Habitat

Discover why snails are so interesting with this fascinating nature kit. A transparent container where you can observe snails beautifully. Decorate it entirely to your own taste. The habitat is equipped with ventilation openings and an opening for adding water. The product was developed by naturalist Nick Baker, a specialist.

The product provides hours of fun activity and is of high quality. Also included is Nick Baker's English manual with all information about snails. Suitable for children and for anyone with a passion for the special world of nature.

Specifications

• Transparent container with lid
• Pipette
• Tweezers
• Magnifying glass
• Extensive manual
• Dimensions 19:14:6.5
• Suitable from 4 years old

Worm Farm

Worm World

Become a worm expert with this Worm World from Wild Science! Get to know the fascinating world of worms. Watch them dig tunnels and how they live underground. Discover the life cycle of the worm.

Specifications

- Full-colour (Eng) booklet with information
- The transparent farm
- Various colours of sand to colour the sand in your farm
- Full-colour cardboard casing to provide shelter for the worms
Excludes necessary soil and worms

Dimensions

Length 30cm, height 19cm, depth 4cm

Installation and use

Installation is simple. Add the coloured sand to the soil (add yourself) to create a beautiful layer of sand in which the worms can dig to their heart's content. Add the worms and close the lid.

Indian Stick Insect Nymph

Offer

1 Indian stick insect nymph, age from L1.

General Information

The Indian stick insect is also known as the laboratory stick insect and is the most commonly kept species of stick insect in the world. The species has also been given a PSG number, PSG 1. The official Latin name is Carausius morosus.

Most people start with this species when they first begin keeping stick insects. They are easy to keep and eat readily available food, namely ivy.

Movement and Behavior

An Indian stick insect is a calm animal. As most stick insects are nocturnal, they will not show much movement during the day. In the evening, however, you can observe them moving and eating. They cannot bite, scratch, or secrete venom and are easy to handle. They also cannot jump or fly.

Diet

This species eats many types of leaves. They are known for eating ivy. They can live on all sorts of ivy and do not require other leaves to be healthy. You can feed them many other leaves, such as blackberry, raspberry, oak, rose, hazelnut, and privet leaves. Blackberry leaves and ivy are always available in winter.

Plants from stores are sprayed with insecticides! Your stick insects will die immediately from these.

Environmental Requirements

The temperature can vary between 18 °C and 30 °C. Room temperature is therefore perfectly fine for these animals.
The stick insect does not have high humidity requirements; misting the enclosure twice a week as a basic routine is sufficient, but watch out for mold development. They should also have some drinking water.
As with all stick insect species, they need an enclosure at least 3 times the length of the animal in height, and at least 2 times the length of the animal in width. For an adult female, this means an enclosure of at least 24 cm high and 16 cm wide.

Reproduction

This species is parthenogenetic in culture. This means that in captivity, there are only females, and the eggs they lay hatch even without a male being present. These eggs will also only produce females.
Once the females are mature, they will start laying eggs. The eggs are round and brown and have a small cap on them from which the nymph will later emerge. They simply drop them on the ground. The eggs hatch after a few months.

Home Breeding

All nymphs are home-bred and well cared for prior to shipping (via parcel post).