NEWSLETTER NO. 23 June 1985

Transcription

1 Chairman: Mr-s Judi th Marshall Department of Entomology British Museum (Natural History) Crornwell Road, London SW7 5BD Membership: Paul Brock (Phone ) "Papillon", 40 Thorndike Road Slough, Berks SL2 1SH NEWSLETTER NO. 23 June 1985 The next PSG meeting will be held at the Centre for Life Studies on Sunday, 14th July. starting at about 11 a.m. The Centre is in Prince Albert Road near the London Zoo (Snowdon Aviary) - walk or 74 bus from Camden Town tube. (If you need fuller directions, please see Newsletter 12, page 2, or the map on page 6 of Newsletter 15.) Please bring sandwiches, livestock, boxes with bramble, and any ideas you want to discuss: Sadly we have to record the death of a long-standing member - John Bennett (No. 51). But more cheerfully we report that another of our members made BBC TV - Maxwell Cooper (No. 256) being shown on the 9 o'clock News on 11th April, in an item about exotic pets. DP~WINGS FOR THE NEWSLETTER - We have received some beautiful drawings for the Newsletter - but please could members send only drawings in black and white (ideally drawn with Indian ink or similar), as unfortunately we cannot reproduce colour. Please also, as far as possible', try to provide drawings large enough to show the detail required but not more than 7 inches wide. Please send these (and a r t Lc Les l ) by 14th August to Hichael and Frances, 9 Oaklands Court, Nicoll Road, London NW10 9AD. TRANSLATOR WANTED - from French to English, for 3-page Newsletter article. Please wri te to Mi chael and Frances, address as above. Sorry, no pay: NEWSLETTER BACK NU~ffiERS - David Robinson (No. 29) now holds the masters of the Newsletter and has kindly supplied Paul Brock (No. 26) with a stock of issues. Will members still seeking back numbers therefore please place orders with Paul at the following rates: Newsletters 1-17 inclusive 40p each, Newsletter 18 onwards 50p each. Post and packing costs (UK) are 1 copy 20p, 2 copies 30p, 3-5 copies 4Op. Please include extra for overseas - surface mail (up to 2 months delivery) is used outside Europe unless air mail is specified and paid for. Please make cheques, etc, in favour of "The Phasmid S'tudy Group". If members are writing to David Robinson for Library material, he can also provide back numbers at the above prices. THE PHASMID REARER'S HANDBOOK - Paul Brock's revised publication for the AES should be available shortly. Members can obtain a copy for 2.30 (including postage; payment in favour of "AES Publications") from AES PUblications, 4 Steep Close, Orpington, Kent BR6 6DS. Sections include: general breeding techniques; comprehensive notes on the species; an article by Allan Harman on collecting phasmids; mounting and preserving phasmids; sources of supply; and suggested further reading.

2 23 ~ 2 AMATEUR ENTOMOLOGISTS' SOCIETY EXHIBITION - Saturday 12 th October 1985 at the Hounslow Civic Centre in Lampton Road, open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Paul has provisionally booked two tables for the PSG. ALAIN DESCHANDOL (No. 238) in France would like new species. THOUGHT FOR THE ISSUE - How will your sticks fare when you go on holiday? (Actually, we'd like answers to this.) HOW TO SORT EGGS FROM DROPPINGS by Chris Summers (No. 267) Take a piece of Blue Tac and shape the end into a point. Then you can pick an egg up with ease by sticking the point of the Blue Tac on to the egg. This method is far easier than trying to pick the eggs up wi th tweezers because usually the eggs are 80 brittle that tweezers crush them. (See also Newsletter 12, page 6, and Newsletter 17, pages 3 and 4. - Eds) CLONOPSIS GALLICA - CAPTURE AND BREEDING by Jean Luc Lambert (No. 89) This French phasmid is quite large in the wild - about 70 mm for the body length and 110 mm overall, with a body diameter of about 3 mm o C. gallica capture is quite easy if approached logically, i.e. looking on bramble or other host plants which have characteristic eating cuts. These cuts are more or less round in Bhape with a size depending on the time of year and the phasmid size. At the end of spring the cuts measure a few square millimetres and occur up to about a metre above the ground, and they become more and more numerous and. extend higher as autumn approaches. If the host plants are scarce, foliage destruction may be complete near the plant base. All this may seem complicated, but if you rear C. morosus and carefully note the condition of the host plant as the insects grow to adulthood, the similarity becomes clear, There are many host plants in nature, including bramble and other Rubus species, roses, elder (Sambuscus nigra) and ash (Fraxinus). All these plants grow near my home in Varennes sur Loire and are attacked and even destroyed by C. gallica. To find a capture area I choose places where there are bramble and wild rose (together or separated), protected from the dominant South-Westerly winds, and at the ed,ge of high vegetation (hedges, woods or thickets). When a sui table capture area ib found and the plants are seen to be attacked in the very characteristic way of phasmids, the most difficult thing to do is to find the C. gallica - you need a lot of patience: My method consists in deciding on the volume of plants to be searched and to look everywhere. At the end of spring the C. gallica are near the ground in the grass; as the seasons advance they can also be found further up the host plant. In spring the C. gallica are light green, but later change to brown or reddish brown. It is impossible to find eggs in nature except for those at the end of adultg' bodies ready to be ejected. They lay 1-2 eggs per day. Breeding this species can be carried out in two ways, in a natural cycle or continuously. In both cases the eggs should be kept relatively cool, at C for 1~2 months. Wild rose, rose tree or green Rubus should be available for feeding. For natural breeding the eggs should be laid in November and hatched in natural conditions avoiding cold and water - an unh8ated greenhouse could be an ideal solution. Depending on the weather, hatching takes place around the end of spring. Rearing can be carried out outside without protection against rain, but should be near tall plants (trees and bushes). For continuous breeding the eggs should be kept for days in the vegetable compartment of a refrigerator and then put near the foodplant at o C during 0C 0C the day and 3_8 at night. After hatching, keep at during the day and o C at n1ght. Afterwards proceed as for C. morosus, and try gtrawberry (Fragaria), which is a very good food for phasmids. Breeding C. gallica is difficult as, although in my experience 80-90% of the eggs hatch, there are losses after moultin~ Adults are smaller than in the wild. I can supply eggs of C. gallica at the end of 1985 if you write to me now. In exchange I could accept phasmid eggs but require at least 50 of each species and of proven fertility. I need PSG species numbers 11, 16, 26, 27, 29, 31 and 36 0 I could also exchange for butterflies of "sound stock" or mantids.

3 SOME FOODPLANTS OF EUROPEAN PHASMIDS by Allan Harman (No. 189) Recently a number of cultures of European phasmids have been introduced into the Group. I have been keeping records of foodplants for some time, and below is a list of these for the interest of members keeping same. Those plants marked by an asterisk are readily cultivated in this country and Group members would probably be well advised to cultivate as many as possible. Leptynia hispanica, Bolivar, 1878 Gangwere et al., 1973, record: Spain/Portugal Sarothamus scoparius Leguminosae *Cytisus purgans Broom Leguminosae *Genista cinerea Leguminosae *G. florida Leguminosae Leptynia attenuata, Pantel, Gangwere et al., 1973, record: Spain/Portugal S. scoparius Leguminosae Bacillus gallicus, Charp., 1825 (=Clonopsis gallica) Gangwere et al., 1973, record: *Rosa sp. Rose Rosaceae *Rubus sp. Bramble Rosaceae *Crataegus sp. Hawthorn Rosaceae *Prunus sp. Flowering cherry Rosaceae B. rossius, Rossi, Spain/France Paul Brock (personal communication, 1984) records the same four foodplants as listed immediately above for B. gallicus. B. atticus, Brunner, 1882 Greece/Yugoslavia Paul Brock (personal communication, 1984) records: Pistacia sp. Anacardiaceae *Cistus sp. Rock rose Cistaceae Pinus sp. Pinaceae B. lynceorum, Nascetti and Bullini, unpublished - Sicily Paul Brock (personal communication, 1984) records: *Rubus sp. Bramble Rosaceae Acanthoxyla prasina, Westwood, Paul Brock (1979) records: New Zealand, introduced to UK Myrtus communis Myrtle Myrtaceae *Rubus sp. Loganberry Rosaceae *Rosa sp_ Rose Rosaceae Cryptomeria japonica Japanese cedar Taxodiaceae My own personal observations record: *Rubus sp. Bramble Rosaceae *Cupressus sp. Cupressaceae C1itarchus hookeri, White, My own personal observations record: New Zealand, introduced to UK *Rubus sp. Bramble Rosaceae

4 This list is by no means exhaustive and further records of foodplants should be kept. References Brock, P.D., 1979: Stick-insects - A brief guide to some species available for culture, AES Exotic Entomology Group Newsletter No. 4. Gangwere, S.K., et al., 1973: Food selection and feeding behaviour in Iberian Orthoptera, Ann. Inst. Nacional de Invest. Agrarica. Ser. Proteccion Veg. No. 3. Notes on some foodplants for the New Zealand species above Japanese cedar is a tall evergreen tree growing up to 100 feet, although dwarf varieties are available. It grows best in slightly damp soil. Native to Korea and Japan. Myrtle is an evergreen shrub which grown up to 12 feet. It is only really suitable as a wall shrub except in very mild areas. Native to South Europe t h r o ug h to West Asia. Loganberry grows well in Britain, preferring heavy rather than chalky and light soils. A d isadvantage, however, is that cut plants wilt rapidly. Haaniella echinata, Redt., Lonchodes sp., Carausius sp. plus probably many others also eat this last plant (Harman - personal observation). ACANTHOXYLA PRASINA CULTURING by John Daniels (No. 225) I have had a reasonable amount of suc cess with this stick. All my specimens are the daughters of one adult insect kindly given to me 2 years ago by a fellow member. I found the best way of hatching the ova was to keep them dry and only spray them a month prior to hatching, and always to keep the eggs well aired. When the nymphs finally did emerge I had a 70% success rate. The nymphs took readily to fresh bramble and revelled in the still moist atmosphere I was supplying. However after the 2nd instar they became sickly and refused to feed. I immediately stopped frequent spraying and sprayed their c a g e only 3 times a week. My sticks seemed to take to this change and picked up to produce the biggest specimens of this species I have ever encountered, with overall and body lengths of 167 mm and 107 mm respectively (85 mm is usually quoted for the latter - Eds.) The adults, incidentally, are thriving in a dry habitat. PS. I have plenty of ova if anybody is interested. ~So too has Dorothy Floyd (No. 16). Please send 20p to cover postage andpacking - &E;

5 13: 5' RESCUING SHEDDING MISHAPS by Frances and lmchael (No. 3) Sometimes sticks get into difficulties when shedding their skins, but it may be possible to rescue them. Help is obviously needed when a shedding stick suddenly falls from its perch. It must be rescued quickly, before it has had a chance to discard its legs or to dry in a deformed shape, and then be positioned head-downwards to finish its shed. If its shed is well underway and there is considerable empty skin at the end of its tail, then the stick can usually be easily supported upside down by drawing pins or Sellotape (depending partly on the weight of the stick) attached to the empty skin. The legs should be arranged in as natural a shedding posi tion as possible, and care taken that the emerging stick doesn't later get caught up in any Sellotape when it moves. If a stick falls from its perch when it has just started shedding, it can sometimes be supported gently in ones hand until enough empty skin is available to proceed as above. It is much more difficult to rescue a stick which has fallen from its perch some time earlier. If just a small area is still trapped in the skin - say, part of the stick's tailor feelers, or part of one or two legs - the skin can sometimes be very gently eased away with a wet paintbrush. But it is probably kinder to kill painlessly sticks much more trapped than this, as any attempt to remove the skin will still leave the stick very deformed. Sticks can occasionally start shedding in unsatisfactory positions, and one must then decide whether it is better to intervene or to leave the stick to its own devices. Several species often shed holding on to their perch solely by their back legs, so although this looks alarming there is no need to interfere. A stick shedding in a very cramped position near the side or bottom of its cage can often be helped - for instance by very carefully moving the whole plant on which it is perching away from the side of the cage, or by putting the plant on the edge of a chair so that the stick can shed down below the plant. Also, it may be possible to provide an unimpeded shedding path simply by cutting away a few leavesjbranches from below the stick. All of these manoeuvres are probably best attempted when the shed is well progressed. Experience will sometimes indicate that a stick is preparing to shed in a very precarious place, and it may then be worth coaxing the stick to move. This must be done very early, as once the shed has started the stick will be unable to grasp a fresh perch. The one mishap we ' have never really solved is when a stick starts to shed horizontally or even slanted upwards. It may be possible to use one of the methods described above, or to adjust the position of the perch (rather than the stick), but we think such a shed may be a sign that the stick is unwell in the first place. GUAVA AS A FOODPLANT - Further notes by Allan Harman (No. 189) (For Allan's original article see Newsletter 22, page 5) In Britain guava can only be grown in a greenhouse at a winter temperature of not less than 10 o C (50 0 F). The tree can be cultivated in large pots or tubs in a soil mixture of 2 parts sandy loam plus 1 part cow manure and sharp sand in equal parts. Water freely during growing periods. In its native habitat guava grows from 6 to 15 feet. Seeds of guava can be obtained from specialist seed suppliers. I am told by Tony James (1983) that he grew guava but his stick insects were not too keen to eat same. Another species recorded as feeding on guava is: Eurycnema herculeana, Charp. Singapore Culture Hanitsch, 1902 Reference Hanitsch, R., 1902: On the parthenogenetic breeding of E. herculeana, Charp., J. R. Asiatic Soc. Straits Branch, 38,

6 SOME MORE NEW SPECIES FROM BORNEO by Jonathan Cocking (No. 82) On mount Kinabulu at 5200 feet we collected two females and a male of a small Haaniella species (I think H. scabra). One of the females is now in England but she may not have been mated. She is a beautiful creature, light rusty brown in colour. She is very peaceable, but if really provoked will perform like her larger cousin H. echinata, kicking her legs up and simultaneously rustling her wing cases. H. scabra (?) We also found in Sabah a second Dares species, a bit larger than PSG No. 38 and living 350 miles (including a high mountain range) away. Female colouration varies from a light yellowy brown to dark brown or almost black. The males are gold and black, and Lhei.r- underside is a light creamy colour. They are spikier than the Sarawak species No. 38. During the day both sexes hide under logs in the cage or in crevices, like No. 38. This species is proving easier to culture. PS.b.6" A new Dares species Another quite large species (I think Trigonophasma rubescense) has a big head, well developed wings and a defensive spray, and the female lays her eggs in clusters of around 20. They take only 26 days to hatch, and the long-feelered nymphs are some six times as long as the egg!!

7 2:': 7 PSG No. 52: CALYNDA SPECIES by Paul Brock (No. 26) Culture History: The stock was initially obtained in the early 1980s from Costa Rica, Central America. Peter Curry (No. 91) informs me that the source was a research worker, and the species is being studied as a crop pest. Name: Adults: Ova: Nymphs: Defense: Foodplants: The genus is believed to be Calynda, Stal (sub-family Heteronemiinae), but this insect has yet to be classified to species level. One of the distinguishing features in the key to Calynda species in Brunner von Wattenwyl and Redtenbacher ( ) Die Insektenfamilie der Phasmiden (Leipzig) is that the head is double-spined in some species. Certain individuals of this Calynda species are lacking these spines, although the vast majority possess them. Certainly if one says the insect's head is double-spined, then it appears the species is not included in the key. This will no doubt involve classification work for Judith: (Note - the species was referred to as Calynda bicuspa in Newsletter 22, but this is a much smaller species, according to Brunner. It appears therefore that the name allocated is incorrect, and for the time being the species should be referred to as Calynda species.) Sexually dimorphic - males are much smaller than the females. The females are slender and stick-like, in various shades of green or brown. Most I have reared or seen are fairly light in colour, but I have noted one or two dark brown individuals. Their heads are usually doublespined, and the thorax is granulated (i.e. has a number of small, blunt spines). The tip of the abdomen has a long chute, characteristic of some Calynda species. As with some other phasmids, red on the inside of the forelegs by the head denotes they are adults. The females ' size range is mm from head to tip of abdomen, mm including the forelegs. In view of the females' length, a cage at least 18 inches tall i!l preferable. Males are very slim, usually dark brown, with two thin cream/white stripes along each!lide of the body, much thicker on the head and partly broken. The distinguishing feature from any other species in culture is a pair of "claspers" at the tip of the abdomen, used during mating for clinging easily to the female. Their length i!l mm from head to tip of abdomen, overall mm. Both sexes have medium-size antennae. A mixture of greyish white, with a large yellowish brown operculum. The narrow micropylar plate is dark grey/black. Average!lize is 3.7 x 2 mm. Easy to recognise amongst the species in culture. Ova appear to be dropped to the ground. Usually straw coloured, but some are green. They are fairly quick growing, and very stick-like in all stages of development. The much thinner, fragile-looking males are easily distinguished at a fairly early stage (look for the claspers developing:). Other than their stick-like appearance, I have not noticed anything unusual. When disturbed, the nymphs and adults can be very active, and in walking away at speed do not cling on very well and can easily fall. When there is a good quantity they are therefore not easy to clean out: Bramble. I have not tried others, but Torben Smith (No. 220) has bred them on dog-rose. I suspect they will eat numerous plants, and it will be interesting to know which foodplantr they devour in Costa Rica (Peter Curry will try to establish information on this). If they are indeed a "pest" in that country, then this insect will be one of the few phasmids regarded as s uch,

8 Comments: It is easy to understand how this insect could become a pest, because they breed readily in good numbers, and the females lay several hundred f'ggs each, which so far have produced a near 100% hatch rate. I am almost over-run with them now, after giving away much of my stock and keeping only about a hundred eggs. The species is perfectly suitable for the beginner, as it seems to do well in humid or dry conditions. o 0 As wi th many phasmids, a constant termperature of about F is desirable, being something like the climate in Costa Rica, but the species will tolerate much lower temperatures. Adults are often seen paired. Michael and Frances recently told me a sorry tale reported to them concerning a male who at tempted to pair with a female of the somewhat similar unidentified Thailand species (No. 22). The claspers managed to cut the abdominal segments off the unfortunate female, but this is an exceptional case, and there is no reason why this species should not be kept in a cage with other non- aggressi ve ph asmids (Eurycan tha, Heteropteryx, etc, are bes t kept to their own cages). Acknowledgement: My thanks go to Torben Smith for providing information on his experience of breeding this species, which should now be widely distributed amongst members. Next Species: Diapheromera femorata which is now in good culture. I will be including interesting notes from past papers on this "Common American Walkingstick", which also goes by several other common names: Drawings: Regrettably the drawings for the above species report have not been received by Paul (or us). If we get them later we will include them in a future issue. - Eds CHIPS from Michael and Frances (No. 3) BACULUM EXTRADENTATUM (Newsletter 13) - We found our males no more fragile than others. Our problem was that even 12 pairs produced no males in the next genera tion. These sticks are one of the few species which we found slowly crept away when disturbed. WEST INDIAN "WARTY" (PSG No. 17) - The eggs of this species are unusual in that their caps (operculi) become pitted as hatching approaches, About their identifica tion, these have been described as a Clonistria sp., but this seems to be definitely wrong. ANISOMORPHA BUPRESTOIDES ASYMMETRIC MATING? - In everyone of our 8 pairs, when viewed from above, the male's tail curls under the female's from the right-hand side. EXTATOSOMA TIARATUM EGG LAYING - Before catapulting their eggs behind them, the females often sway sideways more and more. PEAR LEAVES FOR FOOD - These are liked (in increasing order) by: the two Eurycantha species, H. echinata and H. dilatata. STOP PRESS - Colin Bath has joined the Group as a representative of Paignton Zoo, where he is Curator of Animals. They intend setting up one or two phasmid displays soon and seek about a dozen adult Extatosoma tiaratum. Will any membe r (perhaps lecal?) who can help please phone Colin on Paignton , ar write to him at the Zoo, Totnes Road, Paignton, Devon.