Saturday 11 October 2014

Nymph Size Relative to Ovum Size

Okay, went to check my little incubator box and found some nymphs busy hatching and just hatched. I took a few pics to show the few readers how much the nymphs must be compressed to fit inside the ovum.

First here is probably the most beautiful phasmids species (Google it if you dont trust me ;)) which is in the process of hatching, Parectatosoma cf. hystrix "Moramanga" which occurs naturally in Madagascar. This little nymph is almost done hatching.


When they get stuck in the position, they can often lose their legs or even die, so I often help them by simply restraining the ovum with my fingers a bit, allowing them to pull out. 


And here is a freshly hatched Haaniella dehaani, which had not even had time to straighten out its antennae. This species has one of the largest ova of all phasmids, roughly pea-sized.  This one's exoskeleton has not even had time to harden, so one needs to leave them until this is done. 


Hope you guys enjoyed and learnt something. 

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