Pseudophasma subapterum
(by Bruno Kneubuehler)
| Order | Phasmatodea
| |
| Suborder | Verophasmatodea | |
| Infraorder | Areolatae | |
| Superfamily | Pseudophasmatoidea | Rehn, 1904 |
| Family | Pseudophasmatidae | Rehn, 1904 |
| Subfamily | Pseudophasmatinae | Rehn, 1904 |
| Tribe | Pseudophasmatini | Rehn, 1904 |
| Genus | Pseudophasma | Kirby, 1896 |
| Species | P. subapterum | (Redtenbacher, 1906) |
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General Notes
- Redtenbacher (1906) first named this species Neophasma subapterum
- O. Conle, F. Hennemann and Guttierez (2011) synonymised Neophasma with Pseudophasma
- 2006 - first successful culture of this species by phasmid breeders in the Czech Republic
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Origin
- staff members of the Zoo in Prague (Czech Republic) found this species in Tachira (Venezuela) in 2006
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Females
- typical stick insects with colourful small wings, about 6 cm long
- basic colour is dark brown with a white dot on the lateral side of each abdominal segment
- the wing are very beautifully coloured – the fore wings are meshed yellow-black and the hing wings meshed red-black
- feelers are longer than the fore legs
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Males
- typical stick insects with colourful small wings, about 4,5 cm long
- basic colour is dark brown with a white dot on the lateral side of each abdominal segment. But there are also males with a predominantly reddish brown colour
- as in the females, the wing are very beautifully coloured – the fore wings are meshed yellow and the hing wings meshed red
- feelers are longer than the fore legs
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Eggs
- different shades of brown, about 3 x 2 mm
- rough textured surface
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Food Plants
- nymphs and adults accept and grow easily on Lonicera cf nitida (the one which is used as a ground coverer), privet (Ligustrum sp.) and lilac (Syringa sp)
- but they adore plantains (Plantago sp.)
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Breeding Notes
- easy to breed
- incubate eggs at room temperatures (18 – 25°C) on a damp but not too wet substrate
- incubation time is about 4 months
- freshly hatched nymphs are dark brown with light feeler tips
- they grow up easily at room temperatures, males take some 3 months to mature, females about 3,5 months
- females start to lay eggs some 3 – 4 weeks after their final moult. They lay about 2 eggs a day and just let them drop to the ground
- from the prothoracic glands they can spray a white defensive secretion when feeling threatened. This spray has an strongly acidly smell and probably causes a (non-permanent) burning sensation when it comes in contact with the mucous membranes in the mouth or in the eyes. Thus one should be careful when handle them
- males tend to stay permenantly on a females back. But it is not so difficult to separate pairs, as it is for example in Anisomorpha species
- during the day they do not rest on their food plants, but rest on the side of the cage – preferably in a darker place
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References
- Phasmida Species Files (www.phasmida.orthoptera.org)
- Conle, Hennemann & Gutiérrez. 2011. The Stick Insects of Colombia
