Phyllium letiranti "Tataba"

General Informations

• provenience: area of Tataba, a village on Pulau Peleng (Indonesia)
• taxonomical evaluation by Royce Cumming (USA)
• further taxonomical informations ➤ Phasmida Species Files

Females

• rather big Phyllium species
• body length ≈ 8.5 - 9.5 cm
• females coloration is highly variable across individuals
• there are green, greenish-brown, brown, yellow and orange females
• orange mid and hind leg coxae

Males

• also rather big
• body length ≈ 7 cm
• male coloration is much more consistant across different individuals
• so far, only green males have been observed in our culture
• green-whitish mid and hind leg coxae on green males. Whether orange colored males would have differently colored coxae, that is not know for now as all the males in our culture were green

Nymphs

• newly hatched nymphs are dark brown with light greenish-yellow lines
• body length ≈ 14 mm, but not easy to be measured
• on how to distinguish between male and female nymphs

Eggs

• ≈ 5 x 3 mm - frehly laid / before having been in contact with a humid /wet environment
• ≈ 6 x 3 mm - after being in contact with a humid / wet environment
• fringes egg expand after the eggs has been in contact with a humid / wet substratum. This expansion is not reversible
• the function of these fringes is not (yet) known, but wellknown for eggs of Phyllium (Phyllium) species. A possible explanation could be that this helps to anchor the eggs in moss or bark cracks in order to keep them in a safe place during their development. Or they have some adhesive propensities which could also help to keep the egg in a place
• orange-brown when freshly laid, and turn light straw-brown after being in contact with a humid substratum

Food Plants

• wild specimens have been observed to feed on Guava (Psidium guajava) and Mango leaves (Mangifera indica)
• bramble (Rubus sp.)
  well accepted by nymphs and adults
• Salal (Gaultheria shallon)
  well accepted
  bramble-feeding nymphs (at least up to L4) can also be switched to Salal (info by Tim van Molle [BE])

Behaviour, Biology, Breeding

• rather easy to breed
• they often feeding during the day
• both adults and nymphs often quickly drop to the ground when being touched
• contrary to other Phyllium species, the socalled "behavioural cannibalism" is luckily very limited in this species
• females fling the eggs away with a swift swing of their abdomen
• eggs just drop to the ground
• about 10 eggs per female and week
• incubation (Cup-Incubation-Method, on medium damp vermiculite) about 4 - 5 months at 20 - 24 °C. But please note that the incubation time is strongly influenced by the incubation temperatur
• as a side note, it is quite common that from the very same batch of phasmid eggs, some nymphs will hatch weeks or even months after the first hatchlings
• eggs can be covered with vermiculite (about 5 mm high), which makes it easier for the nymphs to hatch without getting stuck to the eggs shell
• eggs of this species are not particularely prone to get mouldy, still it is a good idea to use springtails to limit mould growth
• nymphs hatch after daybreak (around noon) and not during the night. This is a typical behaviour for Phyllium
• the Free-Standing Setup (FSS) works very well to get Phyllium nymphs to start feeding and helps limiting the loss of small nymphs
• when the nymphs get older, then there will be brown, greenish-brown and green nymphs
• a humidity of about 65 - 70 % rH seems to be good enough for nymphs and adults. We are even keeping Phyllium nymphs at a humidity of 50 - 60% rH, with very good success
• nymphs and adults can be sprayed 2 - 3 times a week with chlorine-free water, but make sure that the water dries up before spraying again
• we use a blackwater conditioner in the spraying water
• small nymphs can be kept in a Faunabox (or a similar cage), which shall not be too small
• move nymphs to a bigger cage as they grow bigger
• provide a cage of about 40 x 30 x 30 (cm, L x B x H) for 2 - 3 adult couples
• males will be adult after 4 - 5 months (at 20 - 24°C), females after 5 - 6 months. But please note, that this development time is greatly influenced by temperature

Literature

1. Cumming, Royce & Teemsma, Sierra. (2018). Phyllium (Phyllium) letiranti sp. nov. (Phasmida: Phylliidae) a new leaf insect from Peleng Island, Indonesia. Insecta Mundi. 0618.

• our detailed notes on how to successfully breed phasmids are an integral part of this care sheet
• in order to maintain strong and healthy cultures, often 2 - 3 cages per species are needed (to keep nymphs and adults seperate)
• keep just one species per cage. Informations on why and how to keep cultures seperate and pure
• whenever you post informations or distribute a culture to fellow breeders, then make it a point to use the full and correct scientific name with provenience affix:
  • correct is for example Extatosoma tiaratum "Innisfail" - for the pure culture which originates from Innisfail
  • incorrect and misleading is "prickly stick insect" for Extatosoma tiaratum, as there are many more "prickly" phasmids. Serious breeders do not use common names, as such designations only lead to confusion.
• if possible keep day temperatures below 28°C, and a nocturnal temperature drop is natural and advisable
• do not spray too often and too much, phasmids are no fish. In the confined space of a cage, with it's very limited potential for climatic balancing, humidity and moisture can quickly become too much and give raise to excessive mould and microbiologial growth