Ommatopseudes harmani "Tanah Rata"

(by Bruno Kneubuehler)

General Notes

• Paul Brock (1995) described this species orginally as Pinnispinus harmani
• 2007 - first culture by Bruno Kneubuehler
• 2010 - this species is not in culture at the moment

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Origin

• Tanah Rata (Cameron Highlands, Peninsular Malaysia)

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Females

• small phasmids
• about 30 - 32 mm long
• basic colour is a dark brown, with light brown areas and dots
• big, upright spines on the upper thorax
• spines on the upper abdomen get smaller from front to back
• two big, bulging glands just behind the head (on the prothorax)

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Males

• very small phasmids
• only about 18 - 21 mm long
• basic colour is a dark brown, with light brown areas (like the head and abdomen)
• very big, upright spines on the thorax and abdomen
• two big, bulging glands just behind the head (on the prothorax)

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Nymphs (L1)

• very small, just 8 - 9 mm long
• green in colour

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Eggs

• lentoid
• about 2 x 2 mm
• dark brown
• glossy suface

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Food Plants

• they feed well on bramble (Rubus sp.)
• adults also like raspberry (Rubus idaeus) very much

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Defensive Behaviour

• especially adults try to escape a potential threat by dropping to the ground and / or crawling away quickly
• from their glands just behind the head, adults can secret a clear defensive liquid - which has a pungent smell
• this defensive liquid is most probably irritating to mucous membranes and eyes. Therefore one should be cautious when handling this species
• but they use this defensive liquide rarely

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Breeding Notes

• the culture of the first two generations was easy
• but the hatching ratio of the 3. generation was very low, thus the culture died out
• incubation of the eggs on damp (not wet !) sand, with springtails to reduce mould growth
• incubation time at room temperatures (20 - 23°C) is about 4 months
• keep nymphs and adults in a cage with good ventilation
• nymphs and adults can be kept in a Faunabox (or similar cage)
• take care that the humidity does not drop too low
• a constantly wet paper towel on the bottom of the cage helps raising humidity
• I have never sprayed nymphs or adults with water
• make shure that nymphs, which are about to undergo the adult moult, do not find places in the cage which would not offer them enough room beneath to moult successfully
• male will be adult after about 3,5 months (at room temperatures), females after 4 months
• adult males are always on the back of a female (even a subadult female)
• females start to lay eggs after about 2 -3 weeks
• eggs are just dropped to the ground