Paramenexenus laetus
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Pair of Paramenexenus laetus , female on the left |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Paramenexenus laetus | ||||||||||||
| ( Kirby , 1904) |
Paramenexenus laetus is sometimes referred to as Green stick insect called Stick Insect from family Diapheromeridae , in the north of Vietnam is native.
features
Both the 10 to 11 cm long females and the smaller males with a length of around 8.5 cm are wingless. Both sexes are colored bright green on the upper side as imago . The underside is a little paler and more blue-green. The slightly toothed side edges of the body are beige to light brown and slightly flattened in the females. The antennae protrude beyond the outstretched front legs and are good body length in the males. The body of the males is very thin with about 2 mm or in the area of the mesonotum about 3 mm in diameter and almost cylindrical in cross-section. The body of the female is about 10 mm wide and slightly flattened. In egg-producing animals it reaches the region of the thus swollen abdomen ( abdominal just 8 mm height). Your eighth sternum is elongated in a characteristic way to a tapering operculum ( subgenital plate ), which breaks off easily. On the mesonotum of the females there are some barely noticeable black points. In the same area, the males have six to ten irregularly arranged black thorns of different sizes. Their cerci are also colored black. On the sides, their green color on the upper side of the body, as well as that of the knees and the antenna base, may deviate from turquoise .
Way of life and reproduction
The nocturnal animals hide themselves well camouflaged and motionless in the food plants during the day, which they do not leave for mating and oviposition. The females drop their 3 to 3.5 mm long, 3 mm wide and an average of 16 mg eggs to the ground. After about three months they hatch about 2 cm long, light green nymphs . Later they turn gray-brown. The typical green color of the adults only appears after the last moult.
Systematics
The animals were originally described by William Forsell Kirby in 1904 under the name Promachus laetus . Josef Redtenbacher established the genus Paramenexenus in 1908 and described in it the species Paramenexenus operculatus , which was later recognized as identical to Paramenexenus laetus and is therefore a synonym for it. Since the genus name Promachus used by Kirby was already occupied by a genus of predatory flies , the new genus name by Redtenbacher and the specific epithet by Kirby were combined to form the name Paramenexenus laetus , which is valid today . The syntypes , two males and one female, are in the Natural History Museum in London .
Terrariums
This species, introduced in 1992 by a Czech breeder, is listed by the Phasmid Study Group under PSG number 145.
The species can be maintained and propagated in the terrarium with little effort. In addition to ivy and rhododendrons , the leaves of various rose plants such as blackberries , raspberries , strawberries and hawthorns are also eaten .
photos
Portrait of a female
Eggs, left dorsal view, right lateral view
newly hatched nymph
nymph
swell
- ↑ Alexander Esch: Poles, ghosts, walking leaves: successful keeping of phasmids . Natur und Tier-Verlag, Münster 2012, pp. 91–92, ISBN 978-3-86659-221-6
- ↑ a b Christoph Seiler, Sven Bradler & Rainer Koch: Phasmids - care and breeding of ghost horrors, stick insects and walking leaves in the terrarium - bede, Ruhmannsfelden 2000, ISBN 3-933646-89-8
- ↑ a b c Eugène Bruins: Illustrated Terrarium Encyclopedia - Dörfler Verlag, Eggolsheim 2006, ISBN 978-3-89555-423-0
- ^ Paul D. Brock : Phasmida Species File Online . Version 2.1 / 3.5. (accessed on June 13, 2009)
- ↑ Phasmatodea page by Oskar V. Conle and Frank H. Hennemann ( Memento of the original from May 2, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Phasmid Study Group Culture List ( Memento from December 5, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) (English)
