Coating Method
1) Introduction
2) What is needed for this method
3) How this method works
4) Limitations of this method
5) To be noted
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Introduction
· many phasmid species feed on different plants. Thus it is relatively easy to find
alternative food plants for them
· on the contrary, some species are specialised on only one or very few food plants.
And often it is difficult or next to impossible to find the appropriate food plant(s)
when breeding these species in captivity
· my underlying hypothesis for this method is, that that food spezialists amongst
phasmids are guided by their taste to eat from the "proper" food plant. And this
taste-guided fixation also inhibits them to feed on plants which do not have the
proper taste. But other food plants could still serve as well-enough food plants,
if they would only start to feed on them
· in order to make the breeding of such species easier or even possible, I am
developing this Coating Method. This shall allure food specialist to feed on plants
which they would not naturally accept
· and I guess the reader is not too much astonished, that this method is applied
in human nutrition on a very regular basis. Just there it is euphemistically called
food flavouring :)
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What is needed for this method
· very finely ground leave powder and / or pure leave juice of one (or more) well
accepted food plants
· leave powder
carefully desiccate these leaves (at low temperatures) and grind it into very fine
powder, the finer the powder the better. This leave powder can be stored in the
fridge (or even better in the freezer) for a long time. For use as a coating, a small
amount of this leave powder is mixed well with water in a small container
· leave juice
extract the juice of the leaves - undiluted ! Then fill this juice in 2 - 3 ml portions
(e.g. in small tubes) and store these in the freezer. Thus they can be stored for a
long time and thawed when needed
· for coating, leave juices and leave powders of different plants can be mixed, if
needed or appropriate (e.g. Oak leave juice mixed with Eucalyptus leaf powder,
for species like Eurycnema which feed on Oak and Eucalyptus)
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How this method works
Phase 1
· first of all, cut away the leave margins on the food plant on which you intend to
try out the coating
· with a brush, apply a layer of the leave powder-water mixture or the leave
juice onto both (!) sides of the leaves of the new food plant
· let the coating dry up very well, the powder will stick to the leaves well
· put the coated food plant in the cage with the nymphs
· the both-sieded coating shall now allure the nymphs to start feeding on the
new food plant too
Phase 2
· at best, the nymphs now get used to the new food plant within 1 - 2 moults.
So in a 2. phase, one can apply the coating to only one side of the food plant
· if the one-sided coating is not being accepted well within 1 - 2 days, then one
should again apply the coating on both sides
Phase 3
· if the coating on only one leaf side is being accept well, then after
another 1 - 2 moults on can try whether water-thinned coating will also
be accepted
· if the diluted coating is not being accepted within 1 - 2 days, then one
should again apply the undiluted coating on one side
Phase 4
· if the diluted coating is being accepted well, then after another 1 - 2
moults one can try to offer the new food plant without any coating
· if the food plant without coating is not being accepted well within
1 - 2 days, then one should again apply the diluted coating on one side
· different new food plants can be tested with this method, one (or even more)
may proof to be a good enough substitute food plant
· this procedure may have to be applied again with the following generation,
as the fixation to a specific taste seems to be genetically determined
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until December 2011, I have tried out this method successfully with the following
species (please read the respective specie's care sheet for further details):
· Marmessoidea rosea - coating with Laurel leave powder on Salal (off L1)
· Marmessoidea bispinus (Vietnam) - coating with Laurel leave powder on Salal (off L1)
· Marmessoidea (?) sp. (Vietnam) - coating with Laurel leave powder on Salal (off L1)
· Eurycnema versirubra - coating with oak leave juice on bramble and Salal (off L4)
· Sinophasma sp. (Tam Dao, Vietnam) - coating with oak leave juice on bramble leaves (off L1)
· Sinophasma sp. (Cuc Phuong, Vietnam) - coating with oak leave juice on bramble leaves (off L1)
· Asceles sp. (Vietnam) - coating with walnut leave juice on bramble leaves (off L3)
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Limitations of this method
· it seems there are specialised feeders with which this method can not be
used successfully. This might be because the new food plant does not have
the proper ingredients to allow a healthy growth of the nymphs
· an example for this is Oreophoetes topoense - a natural fern feeder. Nymph of
this species (off L1) are feeding very well on bramble. But these nymphs will not
be as big as nymphs feeding on fern alone, and they all died by L5
· it seems that it is more successful if this method is being used with older nymphs,
than with freshly hatched nymphs. Thus nymphs can be fed on their original food
plant (e.g. Eucalyptus) and then older nymphs at L2 or L3 are being transfered
to a new food plant (e.g. to bramble or with an Eucalyptus coating)
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To be noted
· do never spray coated leaves with water
· some coatings can start to get mouldy quickly. To avoid this, the humidity in the
cage should not rise above 70 % and the coated food plants should be replace
at least on a weekly basis
· luckily other coatings are very reistant to getting mouldy - like Eucalyptus and
Oak. These plants have inherent fungistatic qualities
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Everyone is invited to test this method with other species and other substitute food
plants. And I would be happy to get your feedback, and if possible photos of your
phasmids feeding on coated food plants ...
Contact:
Bruno Kneubuehler
gopala@bluewin.ch
