Hermarchus leytensis
(by Bruno Kneubuehler)

 

orderPhasmatodea
 
suborderVerophasmatodea 
infraorderAnareolatae 
familyPhasmatidaeGray, 1835
tribeStephanacridiniGünther, 1953
genusHermarchusStål, 1875
speciesHermarchus leytensisZompro, 1997

 
General Notes

  • 2008 - the first successful culture of this species by Marco Gottardo (Italy) in 2007
  • 2009 - new culture stock from Mt. Apo bred by Bruno Kneubuehler

Origin

  • new culture stock has been collected by Dave Navarro on Mt. Apo (Mindanano, Philippines) in April 2008
  • this species is also known from Mount Balocaue (Leyte, Philippines)

Female

  • about 13 - 15 cm in length
  • quite sturdy phasmids
  • the whole body is coloured in a light green
  • females do (generally) not react as frantically when being touched as the males. But they too let themselves fall down quite regularely when being handled, and this might lead to injured females

Male

  • about 9,5 cm long
  • thin phasmids
  • males react very frantically when being touched and will wriggle about like in an epileptic state. This might already happen if only the cage is being opened up

Eggs

  • they get mouldy very quickly - even if there are spring tails in the incubation substrat

Food Plants

  • nymphs and adults feed easily on Hypericum and Salal (Gaultheria shallon). Some will even accept bramble (Rubus sp.) from the beginning. It is to be expected that bramblefeeding cultures will appear in the future
  • during summer they also like very much haselnut (Corylus avellana), oak (Quecus sp.), raspberry (Rubus  idaeus) and beech (Fagus sylvatica)
  • M. Gottardo (2008) also mentiones Guava (Psidium guajava) as a food plant

Breeding Notes

  • an easy to breed, big and interesting species - as they show a very pronounced sexual dimorphism
  • just the very fidgety nature (especially of the males) will test the nerves of the breeder
  • incubation of the eggs on damp (not too wet) sand, with springtails to reduce mould growth somewhat
  • despite the springtails, eggs of this species tend to get mouldy very quickly. But so far it seems that this does not affect the hatching ratio
  • incubation time at room temperatures (20-23°C) is about 2,5 - 3 months
  • hatching ratio of my first two generations was high (75%)
  • keep the nymphs in a cage with good ventilation and still high humidity, a constantly wet paper towel on the cage helps raising humidity
  • small nymphs can be kept in a Faunabox (or similar cage)
  • move nymphs to a bigger cage as they grow bigger
  • if there are too many nymphs in the same cage, many will soon be crippeled (lost legs)
  • thus one should really take care not to overcrowed the cage
  • I have never sprayed nymphs or adults with water
  • male will be adult after about 3 months (at room temperatures), females after about 3,5 months
  • females start to lay eggs after about 2-3 weeks
  • eggs are just dropped to the ground
  • they lay about 120 eggs per female and week

 

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