Genus
Species
Stock
Culture status
Probably lost
Foodplants
Bramble (Rubus spp.)
Strawberry (Fragaria sp.)
Oak (Quercus robur)
Beech (Fagus sylvatica)
Breeding notes
(by Bruno Kneubühler)
General Notes
- Westwood (1859) described this species as Lonchodes feruloides
- synonyms: Pharnacia feruloides (Kirby, 1904)
- 2007 - this species has been bred for the first time by some European breeders
- 2008 - Bruno Kneubuhler
- 2009 - eggs of this new culture stock have been distributed
_________________
Origin
- Mt. Apo (Mindanao, Philippines)
_________________
Females
- big phasmids - about 14 to 15,5 cm long
- body colour is mainly green, but also brown specimens may occur
- some specimens have a white stripe that runs from the head almost the whole lenght of the body
- head has light-coloured cheeks and a few darker dots and spots
_________________
Males
- very pretty and slender phasmids - about 9 to 10 cm long
- head is light brown with a dark stripe across the eyes
- short wings, but till today I have not seen them flying
- wings are metallic blue-green, with a very nice orange lateral stripe
- body colour is green-brown with some darker markings
- lower legs are banded
_________________
Eggs
- about 3 x 2 mm
- gloubular, slightly flattened
- colouration is variable - there are eggs from brown to greenish (when dry)
- surface with a net-like structure
_________________
Food Plants
- the second generation was taking to bramble (Rubus sp.) from L1, beside this they also liked beech (Fagus sp.)
- the first generation would not touch bramble, they could only be fed with raspberry (Rubus idaeus) and oak (Quecus sp.)
_________________
Breeding Notes
- is seems to be a very easy species
- incubation on damp (not too wet) sand, with springtails to reduce mould growth
- despite the springtails, eggs of this species tend to get mouldy very quickly. But so far it seems that this does not affect the hatching ratio
- incubation time at room temperatures (about 20 - 23°C) is about 2,5 to 3 months
- hatching ratio has been (in my culture) more than 50 %
- L1 nymphs were kept in Faunaboxes, with constantly wet paper towel on the cage floor
- they grow quickly and soon they need a bigger cage
- as with all species I am keeping, I do cover the water-container for the food plants with cotton wool. This does prevent their faeces to fall in the water for the food plants. Otherwise, feaces that falls into the water for the food plants, will be dissolved and the plants will suck it up. So in the end the phasmids have to eat their own stool, which might not really be to their advantage !
- by L2 it becomes easy to distinguish between the genders (males have already a small poculum at the end of the abdomen)
- is the cage too crowded with insects, then many will loose one or more legs! This can be fatal for them, as some will easily loose 3-4 legs. Therefore I do not recommend to mix this species with other species, but provide them with a large enough cage. A cage that is about 40 x 40 x 60 (cm) is enough for 15 bigger nymphs or about 5 adult couples
- nymphs and adults alike can behave very disturbed when being touched. Then they wriggle about hectically (also on the ground) and run about headlessly. Therefore one should handle this species carefully and gently
- males become adult after about 2 months, females after about 3,5 months
- I do seperate adult males from subadult females, for that these will have peace during their final moult
- after about 2 weeks females start to lay eggs
- eggs will be thrown away vehemently
- females lay about 4-5 eggs per day