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
Anisomorpha buprestoides "Ocala" 458 12a Anisomorpha buprestoides "Ocala" In culture
Anisomorpha ferruginea 137 198 Anisomorpha ferruginea In culture
Anisomorpha paromalus 101 122 Anisomorpha paromalus In culture
Antongiliinae sp. "Ambre" Antongiliinae sp. "Ambre" Unknown
Antongiliinae sp. "Ranomafana" Antongiliinae sp. 2 "Ranomafana" In culture
Aretaon asperrimus "Poring Hot Springs" 98 118 Aretaon asperrimus "Poring Hot Springs" In culture
Aretaon sp. "Mulu" 766 In culture
Aretaon sp. "Palawan" 318 329 Aretaon sp. "Palawan" In culture
Asceles glaber "Ban Salok" 20 267 <i>Asceles glaber</i> &quot;Ban Salok&quot; In culture
Asceles margaritatus kinabaluensis "Kinabalu" 106 151 Asceles margaritatus kinabaluensis "Kinabalu" Probably lost
Asceles rulanda rulanda 319 Probably lost
Asceles scabra 614 Probably lost
Asceles sp. "Cat Tien" 589 Asceles sp. "Cat Tien" Unknown
Asceles sp. "Con Dao" 649 Probably lost
Asceles sp. "Koh Chang" 760 Asceles sp. "Koh Chang" In culture
Asceles sp. "Koh Tao" 320 Probably lost
Asceles sp. "Vietnam" 546 Probably lost
Aschiphasma annulipes "Tapah Hills" 600 Aschiphasma annulipes "Tapah Hills" Probably lost
Asprenas brunneri "Koghi" 658 Asprenas brunneri "Koghi" Unknown
Asprenas femoratus "Koghi" 659 Asprenas femoratus "Koghi" Unknown
Asystata sp. "Cambulo" 743 Probably lost
Asystata sp. "Ilanin Forest" 321 Probably lost
Asystata sp. "Quezon" 310 309 In culture
Austrocarausius mercurius 718 In culture
Austrosipyloidea sp. 710 Probably lost
Autolyca herculeana "Tegucigalpa" Autolyca herculeana &quot;Tegucigalpa&quot; - adult male In culture
Bacillus atticus atticus "Vouliagmeni" 288 156 Probably lost
Bacillus atticus cyprius "Governor's Beach" 245 71 Probably lost
Bacillus grandii grandii 291 172 Probably lost
Bacillus lynceorum "Syracuse" 266 107 Probably lost
Bacillus rossius 35 3 Bacillus rossius In culture
Bacillus rossius "Veruda Island" 848 Unknown
Bacillus whitei "Canicattini Bagni" 89 108 Bacillus whitei Nascetti & Bullini, 1982 Probably lost
Bacteria aetolus "Alamos" 249 79 Probably lost
Bacteria ferula "Dominica" 176 250 <i>Bacteria ferula</i> &quot;Dominica&quot; Unknown
Bacteria horni 322 330 Bacteria horni Probably lost
Bacteria ploiaria "Gamboa" 200 280 Bacteria ploiaria "Gamboa" In culture
Bacteria sp. 279 140 Probably lost
Bacteria yersiniana "Tortola Island" 185 263 <i>Bacteria yersiniana</i> &quot;Tortola Island&quot; Probably lost
Bactrododema centaurum 411 Probably lost
Bactrododema hecticum "Windhoek" 665 Bactrododema hecticum "Windhoek" Probably lost
Bactrododema reyi 323 Probably lost
Bactrododema tiaratum 225 8 Probably lost