Prisomera ignava "Sinharaja"

(by Mieke Duytschaever)

General Informations

• first successful culture by Mieke Duytschaever (Belguim) in 2015
• further taxonomical informations ➤ phasmida.speciesfile.org
• this is a pure culture, and serious breeders are asked to avoid mixing this culture with similar populations from a different provenience. When spreading this culture to other breeders, then always use the full name with provenience

Females

• about 10 - 11 cm long
• the collected female was 10,5 cm long and lived for about a year
• the F1 generation females are between 10,5 and 11,3 cm long
• coloured in different brownish shades, with distinct white stripe all over the back
• two distinct lobes (‘Mickey mouse ears’) on the head
• mid and hind legs also show remarkable lobes
• few small spines of different shape and size on the thorax and the head
• antennae as long as forelegs

Males

• about 8 - 9 cm long
• the collected male (now in Oskar Conle's collection) was approx. 8 cm long
• the F1 generation males are between 8 and 8,8 cm long
• slender body
• brownish colouration all over the body, black lateral line on both sides of the body
• two small spines on the head
• one tiny spine on every mid and hind leg, 0.5 cm beneath the knee joint
• striped legs
• small cerci pointing downwards
• antennae a little bit longer than forelegs

Eggs

• brown mottled
• unusual shape  (see picture)
• about 3 mm long
• with typical, exceptionally large capitulum (1 mm long and 2 mm wide)
• with oblong, light coloured micropylar plate

Food Plants

• a mating couple was found during a rainy night feeding on an unknown shrub  (probably Hibiscus tiliaceus, personal communication Dr. Sascha Eilmus - see picture of leaf on the right)
• traveling through Sri Lanka I could not find this plant anymore and offered some Hibiscus spec., which was very well accepted
• the male died rather soon. It seemed that he was older than the female which had very recently moulted to adulthood
• at home I offered the female other Hibiscus species from my garden. She readily accepted Hibiscus Newbiscus XXL 'Mauvelous', but refused Hibiscus syriacus 'Ardens'
• I tried several other common food plants for phasmids, but she refused all of them
• Salal (Gaultheria shallon) was immediately accepted by the adult female
• but the first hatched F1 nymphs refused salal, so I had some losses.  I had to feed them what was left of the Hibiscus I brought from Sri Lanka and which had rooted in the meantime
• I put the nymphs and their mother in the same cage and gradually most of the nymphs started feeding on salal as well
• now I fed my first generation exclusively on Salal
• they feed well on bramble and Malva sp. (info from O.Conle and P.Valero, 2018)

Breeding, Behaviour

• an easy to breed, very nice species
• both female and male have an exceptionally relaxed attitude
• they don’t move even when touched, they just spread their legs and stay motionless when picked up, or cling on to a branch when disturbed, thus making maximum use of their appearance and coloration to blend in with their environment
• they move slowly when ‘walking’
• pleasant handling because of their relaxed behaviour
• eggs are just dropped to the ground
• incubate eggs at room temperature (18 - 22°C) on humid substrate, e.g. vermiculite, sand or moss
• incubation time is about 3 - 4 months at room temperature
• hatching ratio of F1 generation was about 70%
• nymphs hatch easily if eggs are kept moist
• keep the nymphs in a cage with good ventilation but still high humidity, a constantly wet paper towel on the cage floor helps raising humidity
• small nymphs can be kept in a faunabox (or similar cage)
• move nymphs to a bigger cage according to their size
• males will be adult after about 4 months, females after about 5 months (at room temperature)
• I sprayed nymphs and adults with water 3 to 4 times a week, as I found the parents in an extremely humid environment.  It was dark and pouring with rain when I spotted the mating and feeding couple, very much at ease in these wet conditions
• to give an idea about the local situation (very humid tropical forest): ‘Based on meteorological records gathered from in and around Sinharaja over the last 60 years, annual rainfall has ranged from 3614 mm to 5006 mm and temperatures from 19°C to 34°C.’
• it can help to take natural circumstances as a guide line, but it is not absolutely necessary: like most phasmids, Prisomera spinicollis "Sinharaja" tolerates a fairly wide range of conditions

Many thanks to Stanislav Krejcik and François Tetaert for the pictures