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.