Genus
Species
Stock
CLP
397
Culture status
Probably lost
Foodplants
Bramble (Rubus spp.)
Raspberry (Rubus idaeus)
Breeding notes
(by Bruno Kneubuehler)
General Notes
- Paul Brock (1995) described this species orginally as Pinnispinus harmani
- 2007 - first culture by Bruno Kneubuehler
- 2010 - this species is not in culture at the moment
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Origin
- Tanah Rata (Cameron Highlands, Peninsular Malaysia)
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Females
- small phasmids
- about 30 - 32 mm long
- basic colour is a dark brown, with light brown areas and dots
- big, upright spines on the upper thorax
- spines on the upper abdomen get smaller from front to back
- two big, bulging glands just behind the head (on the prothorax)
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Males
- very small phasmids
- only about 18 - 21 mm long
- basic colour is a dark brown, with light brown areas (like the head and abdomen)
- very big, upright spines on the thorax and abdomen
- two big, bulging glands just behind the head (on the prothorax)
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Nymphs (L1)
- very small, just 8 - 9 mm long
- green in colour
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Eggs
- lentoid
- about 2 x 2 mm
- dark brown
- glossy suface
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Food Plants
- they feed well on bramble (Rubus sp.)
- adults also like raspberry (Rubus idaeus) very much
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Defensive Behaviour
- especially adults try to escape a potential threat by dropping to the ground and / or crawling away quickly
- from their glands just behind the head, adults can secret a clear defensive liquid - which has a pungent smell
- this defensive liquid is most probably irritating to mucous membranes and eyes. Therefore one should be cautious when handling this species
- but they use this defensive liquide rarely
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Breeding Notes
- the culture of the first two generations was easy
- but the hatching ratio of the 3. generation was very low, thus the culture died out
- incubation of the eggs on damp (not wet !) sand, with springtails to reduce mould growth
- incubation time at room temperatures (20 - 23°C) is about 4 months
- keep nymphs and adults in a cage with good ventilation
- nymphs and adults can be kept in a Faunabox (or similar cage)
- take care that the humidity does not drop too low
- a constantly wet paper towel on the bottom of the cage helps raising humidity
- I have never sprayed nymphs or adults with water
- make shure that nymphs, which are about to undergo the adult moult, do not find places in the cage which would not offer them enough room beneath to moult successfully
- male will be adult after about 3,5 months (at room temperatures), females after 4 months
- adult males are always on the back of a female (even a subadult female)
- females start to lay eggs after about 2 -3 weeks
- eggs are just dropped to the ground