Diesbachia tamyris
 

orderPhasmatodea
 
suborderVerophasmatodea 
infraorderAnareolatae 
familyDiapheromeridae Kirby, 1904
subfamilyNecrosciinae Brunner v. Wattenwil, 1893
tribeNecrosciiniBrunner v. Wattenwil, 1893
genusDiesbachiaRedtenbacher, 1908
speciesDiesbachia tamyrisWestwood, 1859


general infomations

  • this species has originally been described by Westwood as Cyphocrania tamyris (1859)
  • other synonyms are Sosibia tamyris (Kirby, 1904), Centrophasma infernale (Redtenbacher, 1908)
  • in Europe, this species has been cultured since a long time. Several new culture stocks have been importet over the years

origin

  • my culture stock has been collected by Kai Schütte (Germany) in spring 2007 up in the Tapah Hills (Malaysia), below the Cameroon Highlands

female

  • medium sized, fully winged phasmids
  • body length is about 10 - 11 cm
  • there are many prominent spines on the thorax
  • the membranous part of the hind wings is beautifully pink-black coloured. This warning colour is shown only when they feel strongly disturbed
  • they can fly, but do so only very rarely
  • basic colour is brown in different shades, with an almost white band along the sides of the head and the thorax

males

  • thin, equally fully winges phasmids
  • body lenghts is about 9 cm
  • males have even more prominent spines on the thorax
  • the membranous part of their hind wings is also pink-black coloured. But they do not display these warning colours, not even when feeling threatened
  • they are good flyers and do so quite eaily
  • their basic colour is also brown in different shades, with an almost white band along the sides of the head and the thorax

food plants

  • they feed easily on bramble (Rubus sp.)

eggs

  • cone-shaped, dark brown
  • surface is roughly structured
  • about 6 mm long and 2.5 mm wide

breeding informations

  • very easy to culture
  • incubation of the eggs on damp (not too wet) sand, with springtails to reduce mould growth
  • incubation time (at room temperatures) is about 5 months
  • nymphs are mainly green
  • Faunaboxes are great for bringing these nymphs up
  • males will mature after about 4,5 months, females after about 5 months
  • just prior to the adult moult, the wing buds will turn pink
  • males will stay for 2-3 days together with the same female, but leave her eventually
  • females start about 2 months after their final moult to lay eggs
  • they stick the eggs into a substrate, which has to be provided for them (like peat, moss, soil)