Micadina sp. "Cuc Phuong"

(by Bruno Kneubuehler)

General Notes

• 2012 - so far the species could not be identified, it could be a new
           species (Joachim Bresseel, Yamai Huang; per. comm.)
• 2012 - at the moment, this species' taxonomy is examined by
           Joachim Bresseel (Belgium) and Yamai Huang (Taiwan)
• 2012 - first successful culture by Bruno Kneubuehler
• 2012 - this species is being distributed as Micadina sp. "Cuc Phuong"

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Origin

• Cuc Phuong, Vietnam

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Females

• typical phasmids
• about 7.5 cm long
• attractively coloured phasmids
• winged
• the membranous part of the hind wings (anal region of the alae) is slightly pink coloured and semi-transparent
• antennae longer than fore legs

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Males

• sehr attraktiv gefärbt
• about 5.5 cm long
• head blue-green with yellow-black striped eyes
• body (dorsally) green with black, longitudinal stripes and areas
• body (ventrally) green-blue
• forewings with a blue stripe
• hindwings brown-green
• legs brown with fine, black stripes
• fully winged
• the membranous part of the hind wings (anal region of the alae) is slightly pink coloured and semi-transparent
• antennae much longer than fore legs

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Nymphs

• small and very agile !
• about 10 mm long (L1)
• brown-green (L1)
• antennae longer than fore legs and dark banded (L1)
• older nymphs develop more and more a similar colouration like the adults
• distinction between males and females (by the naked eye) quite easily possible for older nymphs (about L4)

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Eggs

• very small
• about 1.5 x 1 mm
• brown
• rounded-oval
• surface textured netting-like
• matt
• no distinct capitulum present
• micropylar plate is dark coloured

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Food Plants

• oak (Quercus sp.)
  well accepted by freshly hatched and older nymphs. Most proably also well accepted by adults (but this could not be tested, as oak is not winter-green in Switerland)
• bramble (Rubus sp.)
  nymphs of the 3rd captive bred generation did start to feed on bramble well. Cut away the margins of the leaves and replace the food plant twice a week for the very small nymphs. Adults are easily feeding on bramble too
• Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativa)
  accepted by nymphs and adults (info by Niels Courtens, Belgium)
• bramble (Rubus sp.) with oak juice coating
  freshly hatched nymphs of the first and second captive bred generations did accept bramble only with a oak juice coating. Then after just a few weeks on bramble with oak juice coating, the nymphs did also accept easily bramble without any coating. And also the adults did easily accept bramble without a coatingt
  his is well accepted by freshly hatched nymphs and older nymphs
• here you find more on the Coating Method

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Behaviour

• interestingly nymphs of the F1 generation were hatching over very long time period (more than 6 months), even though all the eggs were laid within just a few days
• nymphs and adults are very quick and agile
• therefore one should especially careful when changing the food plants in the cage with small nymphs
• although females are winged, they were never seen flying
• males can fly quite well, yet they do so only rarely
• this species displays a very interesting mating behaviour. Freshly adult females do not tolerate approaching males and actually fight them actively off - they kick them off with their legs and wings! Only after about 2-3 weeks (when they start to lay eggs?), approaching males are tolerated for mating. Mating is very short, only a few minutes - and then the female again kicks the male off. Here is a video of the mating behaviour:
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WewkX_PXGsU
• therefore I am keeping males and females in seperate cages, so that the females are not constantly harassed by the rather vehement male. And I bring them together just for a short while (1 day) every few weeks
• during mating, the female bends her abdomen high up - and this seems to be the normal mating position for species in this genus (Yamai Huang, pers. comm.)
• adult males and females can spray a defensive clear liquid from glands behind their head. It's smell is faint dirty smell and might be irritating to our eyes and mucous membranes (not tested)

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Developement

• incubation time (HH-Inkubation on dry sand at 20 - 23 °C) is about 5 weeks to 7 months. The first nymphs hatched after about 5 weeks. But more nymphs hatched even after 7 months. although the eggs were laid within a few days
• spread some dry moss over the eggs - this will make it much easier for the nymphs to hatch unscathed and it also reduces mould growth to some extend
• hatching ratio in F1 was very high (> 50%) hatching ratio for subsequent generations was a bit lower (25 - 40 %)
• males will be adult after about 2.5 months (at 20 - 23°C), females after about 2.5 - 3 months
• females start laying eggs after about 2 weeks
• eggs are just dropped to the ground
• up to 90 eggs per week and female
• adults can live for several months

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Breeding Notes

• rather difficult to keep due to their food requirement (unless one has evergreen oak available) but a species with a very interesting behaviour
• keep the nymphs in a cage with good ventilation, but 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 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