Indian stick insect
| Indian stick insect | ||||||||||||
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Indian stick insect ( Carausius morosus ), comparison with a paper clip |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Carausius morosus | ||||||||||||
| ( Sinéty , 1901) |
The Indian stick insect ( Carausius morosus ) is an insect from the order of the ghost insects and of the family Phasmatidae .
features
Both sexes are wingless and elongated rod-shaped. In some cases, the females have a small crescent above the front pair of legs. Their antennae are as long as the front legs. The color of the females can vary between green and brown, depending on light, temperature and food. When it is fully grown, the insides of the front legs are reddish in color. The male is a bit more delicate and mostly dark brown. Its antennae are longer than the front legs. The male Carausii morosus are only five to six centimeters long, while the females reach a length of up to nine centimeters.
Occurrence
Their natural habitat are tropical forests in front and south India , China , Japan and the area of the great Sunda Islands . They prefer landscapes with shrub vegetation.
Way of life
The adults live about a year. The animals often fall when touched and then lie dead on the ground for hours. During the day they often remain motionless in the same place. The stick insects are crepuscular and nocturnal. At night they look for food.
nutrition
Stick insects are herbivores . Carausius morosus eats blackberry and raspberry leaves and the leaves of other plants such as hazel, hornbeam , ivy and nettle .
Fluid is mainly absorbed through food. If the leaves are sprayed with water with an atomizer , one can see how the animals drink the drops. In order to prevent the young horrors from drowning in the plants' water vessels, the water surface must e.g. B. cover with a perforated sheet metal cover.
Reproduction and development
Between 500 and 1,000 females there is usually only one male. In the absence of males or in captivity, the adult females reproduce parthenogenetically, that is, by the first generation .
The animals usually shed their eggs, which do not have to be fertilized, one by one on the ground at night. They lay up to three eggs a day and around 1,200 eggs in their lifetime. Only 100 of them usually survive in nature. The eggs are hard-shelled and resemble plant seeds in shape and color. Depending on the temperature, the small stick insects hatch from the eggs after 2.5 to 4 months. At 23 ° C this happens after about 80 days and at 16 to 18 ° C after about 14 to 20 weeks. The hatched stick insects are also known as nymphs. The development from nymph to imago takes three to eight months. During this time, the stick insect molts four to five times. The temperature during egg development determines whether the animal will become male or female. Exposing the egg to a temperature of around 30 ° C for one to two weeks often results in males or intersexes . When a stick insect is intersex, it occurs e.g. B. appears as a male, but has female sexual characteristics or vice versa.
The species is listed under PSG number 1 by the Phasmid Study Group .
