‘World’s tiniest neck brace’ healed this insect at Texas zoo. See the small patient
An entomology keeper at the Houston Zoo noticed one little insect was in need of some support.
A female Peruvian jumping stick had just shed her exoskeleton, but it left a tiny crease in her “neck” that caused her head to flop when she climbed upward. Peruvian jumping sticks are “stick-like grasshoppers,” the zoo said.
“Since these grasshoppers spend most of their time climbing and being up in tree branches, it was essential to keep her head level as the crease on her ‘neck’ was causing her head to flop all the way back due to its weight when she climbed upwards,” according to the Houston Zoo.
This was a big problem for the little patient. It required a tiny solution.
The entomology keeper and veterinary staff crafted the “world’s tiniest neck brace” that kept the insect’s neck in a neutral position as the exoskeleton hardened, the Houston Zoo said.
The brace was made of the shaft of a sterile Q-Tip and soft microspore tape, the zoo said.
After a few days, the Peruvian jumping stick’s neck brace was removed. The Houston Zoo said she can climb and move normally throughout the Bug House.
“Together, with the help of our Entomology team, one of our smallest critters is now back to normal thanks to the ingenious design of a temporary neck brace,” the Zoo said.
