Cladomorphus phyllinus "Sao Paulo"

(by Bruno Kneubühler)

General Notes

• synonyms: Cladomorphus argentina (Piza, 1939); Cladomorphus coronata(Stål, 1875); Cladomorphus dilatipes Gray, 1835; Cladomorphus lepelletieri(Gray, 1835); Cladomorphus paulense (Piza, 1938); Cladomorphus rochai(Piza, 1938); Cladomorphus tuberculata (Piza, 1936); Cladoxerus phylliunus Charpentier, 1845) Phibalosoma phyllinus Kirby, 1904; Phibalosoma phyllinum Redtenbacher, 1908;
• for further taxonomic informations → Phasmida Species Files
• this species has been in culture several times in the past, but mostly as parthenogenetic cultures

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Culture History

2014 - successful culture by Bruno Kneubuehler
2012 – distributed to other breeders as Cladomorphus phyllinus

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Origin

• São Paulo (Brazil) 

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Females

• bulky phasmids
• body length about 18 – 20 cm
• coloration consistent amonst females
• reddish-brown
• strongly granulated, especially in the thorax area
• head with wart-like protrusions
• femur of mid- and hindlegs with a well-developed, reddish spine
• antennae about as long as forelegs
• subgenital plate longer than abdominal ending
• praeopercular organ (the structure at the ventral end of the 7th abdominal segment, which serves as an anchorage for the male during mating) is very well developed

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Males

• body length about 13 – 14 cm
• brown
• pink stripes on both thorax sides
• strongly granulated, especially in the thorax area
• head with wart-like protrusions
• well-developed fore- and hindwings
• though for most males the hindwings are somewhat degenerated, they just hang down. This is most probably a defect due to lack of an appropriate breeding selection
• a extention of the poculum is longer than the abdominal ending, similar to the subgenital plate of the females

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Nymphs

• lenght (L1) about 20 mm
• dark antennae with a white area near the tip
• by L3 it is quite easy to draw a distinction between ♀♂ (by the naked eye)

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Eggs

• about 3 x 4 mm
• oval
• brown mottled
• surface smooth, matt
• capitulum presend
• micropylar plate elongate-oval

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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  well accepted by nymphs and adults
• Salal (Gaultheria shallon)
  is well accepted by adults (not tested with nymphs)
• Buche (Fagus sylvatica)
  is well accepted by adults (not tested with nymphs)

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Behaviour

• nymphs as well as adult are very passive during the day and out and about feeding at night
• even though males are fully winged, they do not fly or use them for defense
• but a very calm species
• females fling the eggs away - with a swing of the abodmen

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Developement

• incubation time (HH-incubation on slightly damp sand at 20 - 23 °C) is about 4 – 7 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
• males will be adult after about 5 – 6 months (at 20 – 23°C), females after 6 – 8 months
• females start laying eggs after about 3 – 4 weeks
• about 10 – 15 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 =  3                (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
• 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 2 – 3 adult couples
• at least 2 (-3) cages are needed to breed this species – one cage for the small nymph, maybe another one for the older nymphs and one cage for the adults
• spray smaller nymphs with water 3 – 4 times a week (do not used chlorinated tap water). This water should dry up within a few hours, therefore an airy cage is needed
• 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