Acanthoxyla inermis "Wellington"

(by Bruno Kneubühler)

General Notes

• synonyms: Acanthoxyla prasina inermis (Salmon, 1991)
• this species is since quite some years in culture, though it is rarely cultured
• a species recommended to the more experienced breeder
• sometimes this species is also called Acanthoxyla prasina inermis
• this is a truely parthenogenetic species – only females are known from the wild

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Orign

• Wellington, New Zealand 

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Females

• wingless phasmids, about 9 – 10 cm long
• when the females are ready to lay eggs, their abdomen becomes quite fat
• adult females are coloured beautifully bright green
• there is a thin black line on the back of the prothorax (dorsally), which extends just a little bit onto the head
• thin yellow lines are on the sides of the abdomial and thoracial segments (laterally)
• the inside of the frontlegs (part near to the body) is red
• feelers are about half long as the front legs
• there are a few small, spines on the thorax and  the head – some of which are dark coloured

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Eggs

• about 4 mm long, 2 mm wide
• the eggs are dark brown with an irregular rough surface

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Food Plants

• they feed on bramble (Rubus sp.) and firethorn (Pyracantha sp.)
• other accepted food plants are Eucalyptus sp., Hypericum sp. and even Cupressus lawsoniana (= Chamaecyparis lawsoniana)

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Breeding Notes

• eggs should be kept in the fridge for about 3-4 weeks at around 5 – 8 °C. In winter temperatures in New Zealand can also drop quite low. Therefore keeping the eggs for some time at cooler temperatures (hibernation period) seems to be advantagous for a healthy developement of the embryos
• keep the eggs on damp sand (or something similar), avoid them getting soaking wet
• incubation at room temperatures (18 – 25 °C) is fine
• eggs will hatch after about 4 months - but this depends of course on how long they have been kept at fridge temperatures
• trim the edges of the food plants for the newly hatched nymphs
• there is quite a high death rate amongst first instar nymphs
• keep nymphs quite dry in an airy cage (fauna box) at room temperatures (18 – 25°C)
• as this species originates from a temperate area, they may also be tolerate towards lower temperatures
• they mature in about 4-5 months, depending on the temperatures
• females just fling the eggs away, so they just drop on the ground

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References

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