Red-winged Phaenopharos
| Red-winged Phaenopharos | ||||||||||||
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Female of the red-winged Phaenopharos |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Phaenopharos khaoyaiensis | ||||||||||||
| Zompro , 2000 |
The red-winged Phaenopharos , also written Red-winged Phaenopharos , ( Phaenopharos khaoyaiensis ) is a species from the order of the ghost horror . Sometimes the species is simply referred to as the red-winged stick insect .
morphology
Only females are known of this species, which shows the typical stick insect habitus . Their body color is beige to light brown. Often there are many, mostly dark, pustules on the body of the animals, which are up to 14 cm long. Their forewings are only formed as scale-shaped tegmina , which distinguishes them from the unfledged Phaenopharos ( Phaenopharos herwaardeni ), in which no forewing remains can be found. The hind wings, barely a centimeter long, consist of the heavily sclerotized costal field , which is also marked by the body . The bright red anal field is hidden under this . In contrast to the Rotschwarzgeflügelten Phaenopharos ( Phaenopharos struthioneus ), the otherwise red Analfeld a black venation comprises that the Rotflügeligen Phaenopharos is colored completely red.
Occurrence and behavior
Phaenopharos khaoyaiensis comes from the secondary forest of the Khao-Yai National Park in Thailand , to which the specific epithet also refers. Here the species was found in the same area as Phaenopharos herwaardeni , but in a lower area, at a height of more than 3 meters above the ground.
When disturbed, the animals show an extensive behavioral repertoire. So they can stay in a stretched position for the best possible phytomimetry , but usually quickly flee when touched. While grasping the legs leads to the autotomy known from many stick insects , when grasping the body, the animals open their hind wings, whereby the bright red anal areas can be seen. Often a minor disturbance is enough to trigger this behavior.
Reproduction
In the so far only parthenogenetically known reproduction, the females lay black-gray, laterally slightly flattened eggs. These are about 3.5 mm long, 2.7 mm wide and 3.1 mm high. After an average of four months, the nymphs hatch , which after another five months have grown into adult females.
Keeping in the terrarium
All of the red-winged Phaenopharos currently found in the terrariums of horror aficionados go back to two females (as of June 2009). These hatched from eggs that were brought to Germany in 1998 and were initially mixed with eggs of the unfledged Phaenopharos. It was only when the said two females were fully grown that it was recognized that they belonged to a previously unknown species.
Phaenopharos khaoyaiensis , listed by the Phasmid Study Group under PSG number 215, is considered to be relatively easy to care for. In a well-ventilated terrarium with temperatures between 18 and 27 ° C and a humidity between 60 and 70 percent, the species with leaves of blackberries , raspberries or oak is easy to keep and multiply.
photos
female
Detailed view of the front and the opened rear wings
Portrait of a female
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Ingo Fritzsche : Pole - Carausius, Sipyloidea & Co. , Natur und Tier Verlag, Münster 2007, ISBN 978-3-937285-84-9
- ^ Paul D. Brock : Phasmida Species File Online . Version 2.1 / 3.5. (accessed June 14, 2009) http://Phasmida.SpeciesFile.org
- ↑ Oliver Zompro : Basic knowledge of pasmids - biology - keeping - breeding . Sungaya Verlag, Berlin 2012, p. 57, ISBN 978-3-943592-00-9
- ↑ www phasmida myspecies - Phasmid Study Group Culture List (Engl.)
Web links
- www.phasmida.speciesfile.org Brock, PD Phasmida Species File Online. Version 2.1 / 3.5. (June 13, 2009)