Phyllium (Pulchriphyllium) bioculatum "Tapah Hills"

(by Olivier Salord)

General Notes

• this species has been imported and bred on various occasions for decades. Actually Ph. bioculatum is one of the most popular species in culture

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Origin

• Tapah Hills (Western Malaysia)

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Females

• a beautiful leaf-insect with superb, large, fore legs
• Ph. bioculatum females can be different in colour, from light green to reddish-brown, and even yellow
• the specimens from my breeding stock are the green form
• my females are light green, with more or less conspicuous brownish spots
• size ranges between 80 - 95 mm long and 40 - 50 mm wide
• the abdomen is covered with a fully developed pair of fore wings, covering nearly 3/4 of its length

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Males

• males are more even in size
• about 60 mm long
• fore and hind wings are well developed
• they can fly very well
• their color is green during the first week after their final moult
• then they quickly turn golden

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Nymphs

• newly hatched nymphs are beautiful red creatures
• when they start to feed, then they first turn brown and then green

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Eggs

• colour varies from light to dark brown
• they look like seeds, with five ridges
• size is about 9 x 5 mm

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Food Plants

• bramble (Rubus sp.)
• oak (Quercus sp.)
• evergreen oak (Quercus ilex)
• raspbery (Rubus idaeus)
• Salal (Gaultheria shallon)

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Behaviour

• males are very difficult to handle as they will either try to fly away or lose legs easily if handled roughly

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Developement

• incubation on wet sand (23 - 28°C) is about 5 months
• males turn adult after 5 months and females after 6 months (at an avarage of 25°C)
• females can live for about 6 months
• as males mature more quickly, therefore males are prone to die before females are even adult. And then they are not available for mating ...
• fertilized females will show for a short while a sperm sack attached to their genitalia after a successful mating
• females lay more than 300 eggs throughout their whole life, with an average of 2 - 3 eggs per day

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Breeding Notes

• according to my own experience, Ph. bioculatum is an easy species to be cultured
• keep them in an airy and large enclosure with fresh foliage
• hatching ratio of my first generation was quite high (80%)
• nymphs seem to appreciate strong daylight and they like drinking water droplets