Genus
Stock
CLP
748
Culture status
In culture
Foodplants
Bramble (Rubus spp.)
Hibiscus spp.
Salal (Gaultheria shallon)
Malva spp.
Breeding notes
(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