Phasmatodea Cultures

At present more than 200 species of phasmids are bred in captivity. Whether for scientific purposes or as pets, it is important and very useful for serious breeders to obtain information about each stock in order to provide the best environmental conditions depending on the natural habitat and also not to mix different populations of the same species. Mixing different stocks can cause the loss of particular characteristics:

Phenotype: particular morphological characteristics of a population (Colour, ornamentation, etc).

Genotype: forget about sentences like..."it is good to renew blood from time to time"; see section "myths and legends".

Cryptic species: Sometimes it happens that several different species are grouped in a single species because it is not possible to differentiate them at a morphological level. Keeping the different stocks separated helps to prevent this kind of error and allows scientists to confirm if they are the same species or not, by an integrative taxonomic approach (morphological, molecular, ecological analysis, etc).

PSG list and CLP list

PSG and CLP lists were born from "Phasmid Study Group" and "Phasma" respectively. These are the 2 biggest associations of enthusiasts of phasmids. In the beginning, the main objective of both lists was to maintain control of the stocks that had been imported. Nonetheless, nowadays both lists are full of errors (wrong identifications, scientific names not updated, lack of information about the collecting event, lack of photos, etc.). That is why we have decided to present and bring together all known information about each of the stocks that are bred or have been bred in captivity on this website, and step by step try to correct as many mistakes as possible. For this purpose, these are the steps we plan to do:

  1. Merge all the info known from CLP and PSG lists. (done)
  2. Update all the scientific names. (done)
  3. Upload pictures of each stock and confirm or correct the ID. (in progress)
  4. Try to find the missing info for each stock. (in progress)
  5. After completing the previous steps, stocks that can not be verified (lack of photos, sampling data, etc.) will be removed from this list.

IMPORTANT!

  • Due to the huge amount of information that needs to be reviewed, the list is not fully updated for now!. We suggest trusting only in stocks containing photos.
  • If you have doubts about the changes in the names of the stocks, "HERE" you can find a list with all the updated stocks, their previous names and the reason for the change.

 

What is a “stock”?

Each isolated population, populations that are far away from each other or living in a very different habitat should be considered as different stocks, it does not matter if they are the same species or not. For example, populations from different mountains, valleys, islands, etc. but also from a single mountain with very different habitats depending on the altitude. It would be possible to find a low-altitude population and a slightly different population at high altitudes (ornamentation, size, etc.); even if they look alike, they should be kept as different stocks.

How to differ each stock?

Our proposal to name the different stocks is to include the origin of the stock after the name of the species and in quotation marks (as a keyword). E.g. Anisomorpha buprestoides "Ocala": Anisomorpha buprestoides is the scientific name of the species and "Ocala" refers to the place where this stock was found (Ocala National Forest, Orlando, U.S.A.)

This is why it is important to know the origin as accurately as possible, to avoid confusion with future stocks from a nearby area but different mountain, habitat, etc.

IMPORTANT! If you are not sure about the origin of your stock or if it has been mixed with others, then you should never include the keyword after the scientific name.

E.g. There are several stocks of Extatosoma tiaratum and it is known that a lot of breeders mixed them. So, if you are not sure if your stock is pure or not, then you should name it (e.g.) Extatosoma tiaratum and not Extatosoma tiaratum “Inisfail”.

 

 

 

 

 

Culture List

Stock name CLP PSG Culture status
Abrosoma festinatum "Kuala Kangsa" 162 231 Unknown
Abrosoma festinatum "Tapah Hills" Abrosoma festinatum "Tapah Hills" Unknown
Abrosoma johorense "Bukit Pelindung" 187 265 <i>Abrosoma johorense</i> "Bukit Pelindung" Probably lost
Abrosoma sp. "Sumatra" 547 Probably lost
Acacus sarawacus "Bukit Belalong" 269 124 Probably lost
Acacus sp. "Borneo" 312 Probably lost
Acacus sp. "Sibayak" 596 Acacus sp. "Sibayak" Unknown
Acanthomenexenus exiguus alienigena "Dumoga Bone" 255 92 Probably lost
Acanthomenexenus polyacanthus "Mount Sahendaruman" 71 295 <i>Acanthomenexenus polyacanthus</i> "Mount Sahendaruman" In culture
Acanthomenexenus sp. "Cambulo" 688 Probably lost
Acanthometriotes cf. myrsilus "Altos de Campana" Acanthometriotes myrsilus "Altos de Campagna" In culture
Acanthoxyla geisovii 68 80 Unknown
Acanthoxyla inermis 80 81 Acanthoxyla inermis Unknown
Acanthoxyla inermis "Wellington" Acanthoxyla inermis "Wellington" Probably lost
Acanthoxyla prasina 38 6 Acanthoxyla prasina Unknown
Acanthoxyla prasina 61 33 Acanthoxyla prasina Probably lost
Achrioptera cliquennoisi "Manompana" 315 360 Achrioptera cliquennoisi "Manompana" Probably lost
Achrioptera punctipes 316 149 Achrioptera punctipes Probably lost
Achrioptera spinosissima "Morondava" 494 Achrioptera spinosissima "Morondava" Probably lost
Acrophylla titan 108 154 Acrophylla titan Unknown
Acrophylla wuelfingi 42 13 Acrophylla wuelfingi In culture
Agamemnon cornutus "Tortola Island" 188 266 Agamemnon cornutus "Tortola Island" In culture
Agathemera claraziana "Trelew" Agathemera claraziana "Trelew" Probably lost
Agathemera luteola "Capilla del Monte" Agathemera luteola "Capilla del Monte" In culture
Alienobostra brocki 63 52 Alienobostra brocki Probably lost
Alienobostra brocki "Santa Elena" 597 52a Alienobostra brocki "Santa Elena" Unknown
Anarchodes annulipes "Penang" 22 290 In culture
Anarchodes annulipes "Tapah Hills" In culture
Anchiale austrotessulata 109 155 Anchiale austrotessulata Brock & Hasenpusch, 2007 Unknown
Anchiale briareus 44 15 Anchiale briareus Unknown
Anchiale briareus "Beerwah" In culture
Anchiale briareus "Garradunga" 767 15a Probably lost
Anchiale buruense "Buru" 561 Anchiale buruense "Buru" Unknown
Anchiale maculata "Bacan" 599 20b Anchiale maculata "Bacan" Unknown
Anchiale maculata "Galela" 631 20c Anchiale maculata "Galela" Unknown
Anchiale maculata "Morotai" In culture
Anchiale maculata "Seram" 598 20a Anchiale maculata "Seram" Unknown
Anchiale modesta "Wau" 48 20 Probably lost
Anchiale stolli "Guadalcanal" 210 292 Anchiale stolli "Guadalcanal" Unknown
Andropromachus scutatus "Ngo Luong" 841 328a In culture
Andropromachus scutatus "Tam Dao" 532 328 Andropromachus scutatus "Tam Dao" In culture
Anisacantha difformis 317 Anisacantha difformis Probably lost
Anisomorpha buprestoides 41 12 Unknown
Anisomorpha buprestoides "Gainsville" 459 12b Probably lost