Ramulus sp. "Tay Yen Tu"

Genus

Species

Stock

CLP

634

Culture status

In culture

Foodplants

Bramble (Rubus spp.)

Breeding notes

(by Bruno Kneubühler)

General Notes

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Culture History

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Origin

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Females

inconspicuous, rather big phasmids
body length about 16 – 18 cm
coloration amongst females rather consistant
body color mainly a strong glossy green
orange-black markings on the head and the sides of the mesothorax
few almost white dots on the sides of meso- and metathorax
few females have a white stripe along the back
antennae much shorter than the forelegs
when females started to lay eggs, then a white stripe is visible on the side of the abdomen
subgenital plate about the same length as the abdomen ending

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Males

very typical for the genus – thin with very long legs
they look rather fragile
body length about 12 – 13 cm
coloration is consistent amongst males
body color mostly blueish-green, with reddish-brown areas mainly at the segment borders
few light dots on the sides of mesothorax and metathorax
head light brown
legs black with brown knees
antennae short and black

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Nymphs

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Eggs

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Food Plants

it is very much recommendede to cut away the edges of the leaves for nymphs in L1
regularly change the plants and the water in which they stand
bramble (Rubus spp.)
is very well accepted by nymphs and adults

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Behaviour

nymphs are mostly passive during the day and out and about feeding at night
yet adults are often active and feeding during the day
nymphs and adults react rather frantically when they feel threatened (like when they are touched). They drop down, wriggle about and freeze again after a few steps
especially adults often let themselves drop even when just a shadow touches their cage
this „dropping-behaviour“ is to escape a potential predator. But how to they do this, as they are rather big and their long legs make them rather unwieldy? They have simple yet very effective solution to this. They lay all their legs thighly forward (!), and then drop backward-downwards. Like this they fall like greased lightning trough the twigs in a tree – thus espcaping their enemy. This tactic is also applied by other big and long-legged species, but very nicely visible in this species
matings usually during the night and short
a defensive spray has not been observed
females let the eggs just drop to the ground

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Developement

incubation time (HH-incubation on slightly damp sand at 20 - 23 °C) is about 5 – 6 months
please note, that for phasmids it is not uncommon that some nymphs hatch a few or many months after the first nymphs hatched
spread some 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 can be very high
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 – 3 weeks
about 20 – 30 eggs per female and week
adults can live for several months

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Breeding Notes

my general notes on how to breed phasmids are an integral part of this care sheet …
it is recommend to keep this species in a seperate cage. The culture is much more likely to be successful than in an multi-species cage which are all too often badly crowed
degree of difficulty = 2 (1= very easy / 5 = very difficult)
as the freshly hatched nymphs are already quite big, therefore the incubation container must be big enough too
keep nymphs seperate from the adults. This makes it much easier to monitor their developement and they are protected from being disturbed or even harmed by the much bigger adults (like during their moults)
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
a humidity level of about 60+ % rH (for adults) and 75+ % rH (for nymphs) seems to be fine
small nymphs can be kept in a Faunabox (or similar cages like Faunarium)
move nymphs to a bigger cage as they grow bigger
a cage of at least 30 x 30 x 60 cm height should be provided for 3 – 4 adult couples
at least two cages of 30 x 30 x 60 cm height are needed to breed this species successfully
I have never sprayed nymphs, adults or their cage with water
make sure 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