Ramulus artemis and Haaniella dehaani [Phasmids]

[Westley Price]

Hi guys

Thought I would share some pictures of my recent hatches. The R. artemis are tiny making them difficult to photograph, but I tried my best.

All of these are still L1 so the size of the dehaani is roughly the size at which they emerge from the ova. Very big!

Apparently the bulk of H. dehaani's natural habitat in Borneo has been destroyed, leading guys to believe they are extinct in the wild, or near-extinct, but I recon this could be an exaggeration. I have found no scientific publication of this.

Ramulus artemis



First a drink...



Then a bite to eat.



Hi mom!



Haaniella dehaani











I keep them in Exo Terra faunariums, but I am having some trouble keeping the humidity up. The entire lid consists of vents, so for the time being I simply have a transparent sheet over the top which helps a bit, but I need a more elegant solution. Was thinking of using epoxy or resin to seal the entire top, only leaving the lateral vents. Any advice would be appreciated.



Thanx for looking

[Jamster]

Very nice! How about if you attached a thin layer of foam or sponge to the underside of the lid which you could spray occasionally as well?

[Westley Price]

Great idea actually.

One has to remember that phasmids spent a lot of time hanging upside down from the lid and this is particularly important when moulting, so the sponge idea would be ideal as they could still have a nice grip.

I am just not sure how well the sponge would do at keeping the humidity in, maybe when saturated.

Thanx Jamster.

[Jamster]

You're welcome, hope it works

[Westley Price]

This is one of the few species one can already sex from L1 stage because the females have such large ovipositors.

Female top of picture (with pointy thing) and male bottom.

[Westley Price]

So I have added vermiculite to the substrate and now I have sealed the upper ventilation holes with a transparent adhesive sheet, making sure all the edges are correctly sealed to avoid any of my phasmids getting stuck or losing legs.

So far is has been working well. Not peeling off due to high humidity, no insects getting stic and the fact that the lateral vents are still open means excellent air exchange.

Not sure if you can see the adhesive sheet on the pic, and substrate visible in background.

[Westley Price]

Some updated pics.

R. artemis L3/L4 (possibly even the same one as above). Grown quite a bit in just 45 days and turning green quick.





H. dehaani L2 female, becoming nice and spiky now! First pic in defensive posture with down-turned abdomen

[Westley Price]

Just a few quick updated snapshots.

The R. artemis are growing like weeds! Check the first picture on my thumb and compare it to these, only 2.5 months later. It seems they are growing faster the older they get, which is a bit strange.





The H. dehaani are growing slowly but surely. This is the largest female at the moment.



Here she is just below my thumb, with one that hatched last night below my pinky finger.



I have a few other species which have also started hatching, but will wait until they are L2 before posting pictures.

[Mehelya]

Geez. Been feeding your plants growth formula, by any chance? that rate of growth is phenomenal. What is their estimated/average lifespan?

[Westley Price]

Thanx Rian

Apparently Raumuls are fast growing because of their short life span (or is that short lifespan because they are fast growing...doesnt matter) and they take about 3 months to reach adulthood and live 2-3 months as adults.

The inverse is true for the Haaniella; they grow slow and have a longer lifespan. I think they can live up to a year or two.

[Westley Price]

So all my Ramulus artemis are adults now. These things are so prolific that I have to off more than half of them. I only kept 12 to raise to adulthood, but I probably had over 70 when they were still nymphs.

They just started laying eggs, but I wont be raising another generation. I have raised this species from egg to egg, so I am looking for the next species now. Check out how interesting the eggs are.





Few pics of one of the adults







And here are a few close ups of the Haaniella, playing with the new camera.

[Westley Price]

My first few male Haaniella dehaani moulted to adult recently and have a bunch of sub adult females ready to go.

Adult male. These are so spiny, they are really difficult to handle, serious.





Nice collared sub adult female



Dark sub adult female

[Westley Price]

First female moulted to adult recently. This is one of the more aggressive species; give a painful little prick, haha.

Check out the cool little wings.