Isagoras taeniatus "Cachoeiras de Macacu"

(by Bruno Kneubuehler)

General Informations

• provenience: Cachoeiras de Macacu (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
• taxonomic evaluation by Oskar Conle (Germany) and Pablo Valero (Spain)
• first CB culture 2015 by the guys who found them (Brazil)
• first CB culture in Europe by Bruno Kneubuehler (2015)
• further taxonomical informations ➤ phasmida.speciesfile.org
• this is a pure culture, and serious breeders will avoid mixing it with similar cultures from a different provenience

Females

• typical phasmids
• body length 8 - 9 cm
• variably colored - brown, reddish-brown, grey-brown, greenish-brown
• short fore and hind wings
• hind wings just slightly longer than fore wings
• inner side of fore and hind wings red
• antennae longer than forelegs

Males

• slender phasmids
• body length 6 cm
• variably colored, different shades of brown
• long hind wings
• inner side of hind wings with red base
• short forewings with a lateral hump

Nymphs

• freshly hatched nymphs are green with reddish-brown antennae
• about 13 mm
• antennae with a light colored tip
• on how to distinguish between male and female nymphs

Eggs

• 2.5 x 2 mm
• brown marbled
• strongly structured, matt suface
• capitulum only weakly developed

Food Plants

• bramble (Rubus spp.)
  well accepted by nymphs and adults

Breeding, Behaviour

• active mainly during the night
• they feign death when touched
• eggs just drop to the ground
• about 25 - 30 eggs per female and week
• incubation (HH-method on slightly damp vermiculite) about 4 months at 20 - 23 °C
• nymphs hatch during the night
• a humidity of about 60 - 70 % seems to be good enough for this species, both for nymphs and adults
• one can spray them regularly with chlorine-free water, but allow the water to dry up before spraying again
• very easy to breed in my experience