Manduria halconensis "Mt. Talipanan"

(by Bruno Kneubuehler)

General Notes

• identifikation by Frank Hennemann (Germany) and Joachim Bresseel (Belgium)
• for further taxonomical informations → Phasmida Species Files
• other Manduria species which are or have been in culture → PSG-Liste, Online-Culture-List

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Culture History

• 2014 - first successful culture by Bruno Kneubuehler
• 2014 – distributed to other breeders as Manduria halconensis „Talipanan“

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Origin

• Mt. Talipanan near Puerto Galera (nothern Mindoro)

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Females

• sturdy, stout phasmids
• body length about 8 cm
• female's coloration consistently dark brown
• 2 distinct humps on the head
• strongly granulated body, especially the dorsal thorax area
• antennae a bit shorter than the forelegs
• long, thin legs
• inner side of forelegs reddish-darkbrown
• midlegs with few small lobes
• thickened abdomen
• strongly thickened abdominal ending
• long supraanal plate and a somewhat shorter subgenital plate – which form together an organ similar in function (though not in origin) to an ovipositor
• praeopercular organ (the structure at the ventral end of the 7th abdominal segment, which serves as an anchorage for the male during mating) is very well developed

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Males

• body length about 5.5 – 6 cm
• coloration is consistently dark brown amongst males
• faintly reddish midline dorsally on thorax
• ventral side of meso- and metathorax reddish
• the caudal, dorsal border of each segement is raised
• head with two distinct spines
• legs can be greenish-darkbrown
• inner side of forelegs reddish-darkbrown
• antennae about as long as forelegs

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Nymphs

• freshly hatched nymphs about 18 mm long
• dark antennae with a white area near the tip
• dark brown
• by L3 it is quite easy to draw a distinction between ♀♂ (by the naked eye)
• examples on how to differentiate between male and female phasmid nymphs

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Eggs

• big eggs compared to the body size of the females
• about 6 x 2 mm
• light to dark brown
• strongly sulcated
• posterior egg pole with a cavity and a through-and-through hole
• elongate
• matt
• distinct capitulum present on the operculum (lid)
• micropylar plate long

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Food Plants

• it is very much recommended to cut away the edges of the leaves for nymphs in L1
• regularly change the plants and the water in which they stand
• bramble (Rubus spp.) 
  is very well accepted by nymphs and adults

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Behaviour

• nymphs as well as adult are passive during the day and out and about feeding at night
• matings are frequent at night, males stay with the same female for a short time only
• a defensive spray has not been observed
• females prefer to stick their eggs into some soil on the ground, e.g. a container with dry sand (at least 5 cm high) is accepted

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Developement

• incubation time (HH-incubation on slightly damp sand at 20 - 23 °C) is about 1.5 – 3 months
• please note, that for phasmids it is not uncommon that some nymphs hatch a few or many months after the first nymphs hatched
• spread some moss over the eggs - this will make it much easier for the nymphs to hatch unscathed and it also reduces mould growth to some extend
• males will be adult after about 4 months (at 20 – 23°C), females after about 6 – 7 months
• females start laying eggs after about 4 – 5 weeks
• about 3 - 5 eggs per female and week
• adults can live for several months

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Breeding Notes

• my general notes on how to breed phasmids are an integral part of this care sheet …
• it is recommend to keep this species in a seperate cage. The culture is much more likely to be successful than in an multi-species cage which are all too often badly crowed
• degree of difficulty =  2                (1= very easy / 5 = very difficult)
• if a container with dry sand is offered as an egg-laying substrate, then one should sieve the eggs out of the sand every week and incubate them appropriately
• keep nymphs seperate from the adults. This makes it much easier to monitor their developement and they are protected from being disturbed or even harmed by the much bigger adults (like during their moults)
• keep the nymphs in a cage with good ventilation, but take care that the humidity does not drop too low
• a constantly wet paper towel on the floor of the cage helps raising humidity
• a humidity level of about 60+ % rH (for adults) and 75+ %  rH (for nymphs) seems to be fine
• nymphs can be kept in a Faunabox (or similar cages like Faunarium)
• move nymphs to a bigger cage as they grow bigger
• a cage of at least 30 x 30 x 30 cm height should be provided for 4 – 5 adult couples
• at least 2 (-3) cages are needed to breed this species – one cage for the small nymph, maybe another one for the older nymphs and one cage for the adults
• I have never sprayed nymphs, adults or their cage with water
• make sure that nymphs, which are about to undergo their adult moult, do not find places in the cage which would not offer them enough space beneath to moult successfully