Phyllium (Pulchriphyllium) giganteum "Tapah Hills"

(by Bruno Kneubuehler)

General Informations

• provenience: Tapah Hills (Peninsular Malaysia)
• F1 CB culture by Bruno Kneubuehler (2014)
• further taxonomical informations ➤ phasmida.speciesfile.org
• this is a pure culture, and serious breeders won't mix it with Ph. giganteum cultures from a different provenience
• few males were present in the F1 generation

Females

• 10 - 11 cm
• most females are green, few can also be yellow

Males

• 8 cm
• green when freshly adult, but they turn yellow when getting older (usually after about 3 - 4 weeks)
• males live for 2 - 3 months, when kept humid (80+% rH)

Food Plants

• bramble (Rubus spp.)
  well accepted by nymphs and adults

Breeding, Behaviour

• active mainly during the night
• eggs just drop to the ground
• about 7 eggs per female and week
• incubation (cup-incubation method on slightly damp sand) about 6 - 8 months at 20 - 23 °C
• eggs of this species are quite prone to get mouldy. In my experience a thin mould layer does not affect the hatching ratio negatively. And one can use springtails to avoid mould during incubation
• nymphs hatch after dawn, during the early morning hours
• a humidity of about 60 - 70 % rH seems to be good enough for the growing-up nymph
• the Free-Standing-Setup is very much recommened for small nymphs
• one can spray them regularly with chlorine-free water, but the water should dry up before spraying again
• rather easy to breed in my experience, but other breeders report a lot of problems with this species
• most cultures of Ph. giganteum are parthenogenetic for a long time
• culture history of a potentially sexual Ph. giganteum culture:
  • sporadically breederes report males in their long-term parthenogenetic Ph. giganteum cultures. This can happen due to a genetic anomaly, but it seems as if such males are not fertile
  • if at all, "normal" and functional males and a sexual culture of Ph. giganteum exist, these should exist out in nature
  • usually when Ph. giganteum eggs are offered by Malaysian dealers, then these are collected from captive-bred females. And their cultures are long-term parthenogenetic cultures
  • some years back we have received eggs of a wild-caught ("out-in-the-jungle") Ph. giganteum female, which originated from the Tapah hills (Peninsular Malaysia)
  • 1^st CB generation yielded two males, which mated with one female  (eggs laid not counted)
  • 2^nd CB generation - only one male, which again mated successfully with a female (she laid about 50 eggs)
  • 3^rd CB generation with 6 males and a gynandromorph out of about 45 hatching nymphs. This makes about 10% males amongst the hatchlings, which is at least an indication that the previous male was fertile
  • 4^th CB generation, yielded two males only out of about 100 eggs. A confirmed successful mating
  • 5^th CB generation, yielded another two males (one more died as a small nymph)
  • the "problem" with the Ph. giganteum males is that they are sexually very letharcic. Each male I have seen mating only once or twice. Maybe this is the reason why males are not common? And maybe this is a sign that that this species has come to a "biological dead-end"?
  • after mating, the female will carry a spermatophore in her genital tract. This spermatophore looks like a small drop of blood, and is always on the left side. The speromatophores of other Phyllium species are round and white
  • breeders ought to be careful and keep only one female with a male. Once a confirmed mating occured (either eye-witness to the mating, or the female carries a spermatophore the next morning), then only one can put that male with another female. Check daily
  • in my experience a mated female can lay fertile eggs (from which males hatch) for at least up to 2 (maybe 3) months after being mated
  • hatching nymphs need to be sexed in L2. This is quite easy and can be done with the help of a magnifier
  • keep male nymphs somewhat cooler than female nymphs, as they get adult quicker than females
  • adult males live much longer than so often and wrongly claimed, they usually live for 2 - 3 months