Heteropteryx dilatata
PSG No.18--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (Parkinson, 1798)--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subfamily: Heteropteryginae------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Some consider this to be the world’s most spectacular stick insect and it is the heaviest, sometimes weighing up to 65g. It has earned a place in the Guinness book of world records for producing the largest insect egg. Males and females are so different in appearance they could almost be separate species, males look like brown pieces of thorny branch and possess long colourful wings while females are incredibly broad, lime-green and resemble huge leaves! - ----------------------------------Origin: West Malaysia-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Length: male: 8.5cm, female: 14.5cm (head to tail)--------------------------------------------------------------------------Description: Males have thin abdomens, are cinnamon-brown in colour, have many orange-red spines and possess long purple-pink hind wings which are patterned with lacy black lines. The fore wings have a yellow-cream stripe along the leading edge. There are leafy appendages along the edge of the abdomen. Females are brilliant lime-green (or occasionally banana-yellow) on their upper side and darker pea-green underneath. Females are unfeasibly broad, covered in red spines and have very small wings. The fore wings are the same colour as the body and have leaf-like veins, the hind wings are magenta-pink and unmarked. The spines on the female’s underneath have sky-blue bases. The ovipositor is beak-like and keeled with a cleft tip. The female’s eyes are yellow and the male’s are brown, both have a black horizontal stripe running through them. Both sexes have long dark banded antennae, large claws, cone-shaped heads and long hind leg spines.----------------------Behaviour: a very aggressive species with a complex defensive display. Females are much more aggressive than males. The female’s defence display includes lashing out with her hind legs in a ‘pincer action’, hissing loudly (the sound is produced by the wings rubbing together) and biting with her mandibles. The male’s defence display is similar but less extreme (he doesn’t hiss or bite), and he may throw himself on his back whilst fluttering his wings madly. Males often remain rigid and still, pretending to be branches. These insects rarely become tame. Eggs are buried using ovipositor and hind feet. The female may release an fragrant ‘icy’ defence odour when alarmed. Males can be tempted to beat their wings if blown on from the front, they use their wings to make very short glides between branches and cannot fly well. ----------------------------------------------------Food plants: bramble, hawthorn, ivy, oak and rose. ------------------------------------------------------------------------Nymphs: newly hatched nymphs are large, lively and coloured in shades of brown. Female nymphs become broad-bodied and have developing pointed ovipositors, while males have blunt tails and leafy appendages on the abdomen (later on males develop wing buds). Young nymphs change colour with diurnal rhythm, becoming darker at night with markings (which vanish during the day!). Female nymphs change gradually from brown, to yellow and eventually green, with successive moults. Older nymphs are inactive and will not move when handled, and begin to show the aggressive behaviour of the adults.--------------Maturity: male: 8 months, female: 12 months. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------Lifespan: 2-3 years. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Ova: females lay very few eggs and bury them. Eggs seem to be laid in batches, rather than separately. Eggs are round, dark brownish-grey in colour when damp and pale slate-grey when dry, smooth-textured and 10mm in length. The lid is large, circular, flat and grainy-textured. The large micropylar plate is a flat-bottomed X in shape. Eggs should be buried upright in damp sand with only the lid visible above the surface. The eggs must be kept warm and sprayed frequently to keep them moist (or they will not hatch). Eggs take between 9 and 12 months to hatch and the hatch rate is usually around 40%. ------------Care: this species is not one for beginners due to its very slow growth rate. Despite this, the mortality rate once insects hatch is very low and insects moult with ease. This arboreal species requires a large, vertical cage and many large branches to climb on. This species must be kept in a very humid environment. Substrate is needed to lay eggs into.
adult male and female
adult female
adult male
