Pseudophasma acanthonotum
| Pseudophasma acanthonotum | ||||||||||||
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Pseudophasma acanthonotum , pair |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Pseudophasma acanthonotum | ||||||||||||
| ( Redtenbacher , 1906) |
Pseudophasma acanthonotum is a species in the order of the stick insects (Phasmatodea). It is also sometimes referred to as the Venezuela stick insect .
Name and system
Redtenbacher described the species in 1906 under the name Phasma acanthonotus . There is disagreement regarding the ending of the epithet that is still valid today . Depending on the source, the following names can be found:
- Pseudophasma acanthonotum
- Pseudophasma acanthonota
- Pseudophasma acanthonotus
The trivial name Venezuela stick insect, which is seldom used in the German-speaking area, is borrowed from English, where the species is referred to as "Venezuela Stick Insect".
A male and a female from the Peruvian Guaramaco are stored as syntypes in the Natural History Museum Vienna .
features
In this species, the sexual dimorphism consists only in the different sizes of the sexes. At 55 to 60 millimeters, the males remain significantly smaller than the approximately 75 millimeters large females. Both sexes have fully developed, red-brown hind wings. These have a heavily sclerotized costal field , which covers the abdomen when the wings are attached. The lighter, rear area of the forewings is less sclerotized (membranous) and enables short flights. The front wings, which are designed as tegmina , only cover the shoulders with their five to seven millimeters in length.
The body is colored light to black-brown. On the mesonotum there are many small black thorns, which are arranged in two longitudinal rows. The thighs are mostly black-brown and always darker than the red-brown rails and feet. The yellow, black dotted eyes and the alternately black and white banded, more than body-length antennae are striking .
Occurrence and way of life
The species occurs in Venezuela and Peru . The animals spend their entire life on the food plants that they feed on at night. In case of danger, they defend themselves by excreting a milky defense secretion , which smells bad, but burns particularly when it comes into contact with mucous membranes or open wounds. The females simply drop the eggs, which are only 2.5 millimeters long and not even 2 millimeters wide, to the ground. The nymphs hatch from these after about four to five months and are adult after another five months .
Terrariums
In contrast to other Pseudophasma species, Pseudophasma acanthonotum can only be fed with blackberry leaves. Additional feeding of privet or firethorn is definitely recommended. At room temperature, i.e. at 18 to 22 ° C and a humidity of 60 to 80 percent, it is easy to keep and grow in the terrarium .
The species is listed by the Phasmid Study Group under PSG number 189.
photos
swell
- ↑ a b c Phasmid Study Group Culture List ( Memento from December 5, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) (English)
- ↑ Pictures of Pseudphasma acanthonotum on the Phasmatodea page by Oskar V. Conle and Frank H. Hennemann
- ↑ a b c Seiler, Bradler, 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 Paul D. Brock : Phasmida Species File Online . Version 2.1 / 4.0., Accessed on June 26, 2010. (Taxonomic database of ghost horrors)
- ↑ Phasmid Study Group on the taxonomic classification of the species
- ↑ a b Alexander Esch: stick insects, ghosts, walking leaves: successful keeping of phasmids. Natur und Tier-Verlag, Münster 2012, pp. 105-106, ISBN 978-3-86659-221-6 .
