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Trachythorax sexpunctatus
(by Bruno Kneubuehler)
 

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General Notes

• Shiraki (1911) described this species first as Necroscia sexpunctatus
• synonyms: T. sexpunctata (Otte & Brock, 2005), T. sixpunctatus (Y. Huang, 2002)
• 2010 - eggs were imported from Taiwan
• 2010 - only two adult males could be raised (Bruno Kneubuehler) - thus this species is (to my knowledge) not in culture at the moment

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Origin

• eggs were collected from wild-caught females, which were found by Yamai Huang (Taiwan)

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Males

• about 6.5 cm long
• mainly brown - with red and black markings
• antennae are longer than the fore legs
• winged and they fly well

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Nymphs (L1)

• yellow
• hairy

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Food Plants

• only two nymphs accepted Salal (Gaultheria shallon) and grew up very well on this plant

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Behaviour

• males will be adult after about 3.5 months (at 20 - 23°C)
• males try to escape flying
• but a rather calm species

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Breeding Notes

• it seems that this species is not so easy to be cultured, mainly I failed due to a limited choice of food plants (in winter)
• hatching ratio was high (50+ %)
• keep the nymphs in a cage with good ventilation
• take care that the humidity does not drop too low
• a constantly wet paper towel on the floor of the cage helps raising humidity
• nymphs and adults can be kept in a Faunabox (or similar cages)
• move nymphs to a bigger cage as they grow bigger
• I have never sprayed nymphs or adults with water
• make shure that nymphs, which are about to undergo their adult moult, do not find places in the cage which would not offer them enough space beneath to moult successfully

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References

• Phasmida Species Files  (www.phasmida.orthoptera.org)