Peruphasma schultei "Pink Wing" morph

For years I was under the impression that recessive morphs were a trait reserved for animals without exoskeletons, but some months back I managed to read about a hypoerythristic morph of Peruphasa schultei.

Okay, some info. P. schultei is a recently discovered stick insect in Peru in 2005 and it's natural range is only 5 hectares (10 rugby fields) so VERY SMALL. Regardless of it's rarity in the wild, it is currently one of the more common stick insect species in captivity.

Here is a picture of a "normal" P. schultei

(picture from http://www.stickinsects.org)

I have always loved these due the sharp contrast between the red wings and the velvety black body. While doing some research on them, I found out about the relatively rare hypoerythristic morph. The market name is simply "pink wing" morph, but it's fairly obvious that it is reduced red from the wings are the mouthparts, so I have named in hypo-E.

I have cultures of both the red winged and pink winged variety and yesterday my first male moulted to adult so it's the first time I get to see those gorgeous wings. Here are some pics. Sorry for the cr@p pics but didnt really have time. Will take better ones later.

They are really gorgeous. I think I will have a pure hypo-E culture in one cage and a mixture between hypo-E and normal one in another cage. That way if I do manage to distribute the eggs in the future, some breeders might have a pleasant surprise and hatch some unexpected pink wing morphs.

PS: the wings are only visible after the final moult, so you hardly know you have the pink wing variety until they are adult.

Mnesilochus sp "Mt. Halcon" First Ova!

So about 5 months after having the first nymphs hatch, I collected two little ova from my first adult female. Super happy with the result.

Here are the two little ova. It's amazing how much they resemble seeds.

And here's the female that laid them, plump full of eggs.

I still have about 5 other females which are due to start laying soon so I will have a bunch of ova in no time.

Feel free to give me a shout if you might be interested in exchanging ova for other cool species.

Thanx for looking

Phyllium tobeloense "Galala"

Hi All

Here are some pictures of one of y newest cultures, Phyllium tobeloense "Galela" which is one of the newer leaf insects in the hobby.

I just love these insects; the way they look, the way they move, just everything!

I am currently housing them in a faunabox with some coco peat as substrate (to ensure sufficient humidity) and I am feeding them on Guava. I tried Mango for them when they were younger, but they preferred Guava from the start.

Here is a day old nymph. They come out black with this awesome banded pattern and they look quite mean, haha. Like a hotrod or something.

Then they change colour quite rapidly tot totally green within a week or so. Mine are probably 2 months old now and here are some more recent pics.

Here us a nymph which lost a foreleg during its first instar and the leg is starting to grow back nicely now. This is a feature of all phasmids.

Mnesilochus sp. "Mt. Halcon" Finally Adult!

Hi everyone

Happy 2015! May the new year bring lots of success with your phasmids and all other critters that you keep too.

Just before the end of 2014, my Mnesilochus sp. "Mt. Halcon" completed their final moult to adulthood so I am super amped to get some eggs from this species! Hopefully in the next few weeks I will start getting ova. One of the females is already VERY plump so it's only a matter of time.

Here are a few pics. First the adult male. They have this very strange posture where they raise the head and tail end, almost forming a U-shape. Very unusual.

The this is one of the newly matured adult females. Very good stick/twig mimics.

I hope you enjoyed the post!