Little black yellow-eyed animal with red wings and mouth 😄 🙂

This insects have a very interesting look. They are known since 2005 , so they are one of the newer species.

animal:
- a stick insect (walking stick insect)
name:
- Peruvian stick insect, Golden-eyed stick insect
Latin name:
- Peruphasma schultei (schultei after Rainer Schulte)

discovery:
- pretty much new specie
- Rainer Schulte has first discovered and collected them in 2004
- they were first officially described in 2005

habitat:
- endemite in Peru (South America)
- found in Cordillera del Condor
- the region covers less than 5 hectares (12 acres) in size
- at elevations of 1200-1800 metres (4000-6000 ft)
- in small patches of dwarf tropical forest

lifestyle:
- nocturnal (active at dusk and at night)
- they hide during the daytime behind the leaves of Tillandsia bromeliads or pepper trees from the Schinus genus

the plants, they feed on:
- in the wild: Schinus plants (pepper trees)
- in captivity: privet (Ligustrum (vulgare)), honeysuckle (Lonicera), lilac (Syringa), forsythia

body:
- colour: velvety matte black body and legs, yellow to pale orange eyes, red & brownish mouth parts (the parts can be also yellowish)
  * pink morphs: rarely; yellow coloured mouthparts instead red, hind wings with light pink rear sections
- minute bristles (“setae”): brown; the body and long, robust legs are covered with them
- head: large, a bit flattened on the top; it has long and thick antennae (sensory structures, white marked)
- wings: adults have them; small, bright red (when opened), fore and hind wings, vestigial (they can't fly with them), broad, leaf-like, its pattern looks like spider's web
  - fore wings: leathery, look like discs
  - hind wings: the rear part of them are bright red
- size: pretty large and compact in comparison to others in its genus
  - female: larger than males; up to 5.5 cm (also 5-7), sturdier
  - male: 3.8-4.3 cm (also 4-5), slender, a bit larger eyes

reproduction:
- not much known
- sexually => male (smaller) & female (larger)
- females supposed to be parthenogenetic, which means that they can produce offspring from unfertilised eggs

http://insecta.maryno.net/?page_id=148

eggs:
- many, like seeds; in batches of 5-10 a week; female lays around 100 in total
- matt, minutely wrinkled, granulated, pale brown with irregular blackish mottling, 4 mm long
- in captivity they hatch after 2-5 months at temperature 20-25 °C in higher humidity (it also says, that they hatch
  when it's totally dry)
- egg yolk is usually bright red, but the rarer pink morphs have it yellow

you can clearly see the difference between the 3 little poops on the left side and the one egg on the right

nymphs:
- they are like smaller versions of the large/adult ones
- they have no wings (not fore not hind)
- fast moving
- they reach maturity, when they are 4-5/6 months old

lifespan:
- 1-2 years

defense:
- in a case of disturbance or possible threat adults can spray a defensive liquid from head glands
  - the glands are on the back of the head
  - the liquid can cause irritation to the skin & eyes
  - the defensive spray contains glucose and an isomer of dolichodial, so-called peruphasmal
  - it smells very strong and it's also corrosive, so make sure to rinse your hands with water (it's a strange,
    weird feeling, I experienced it myself)
- it is also written that they erected hind red wings represent a warning

breeding/care:
- you can have them as pets, they are bred regularly in captivity, their popularity has increased
- terrarium made of glass or plastic, higher if possible
- floor with white paper (so you can see the eggs)
- room temperature is enough
- they shouldn't be in high humidity
- in captivity they eat privet (Ligustrum (vulgare)), honeysuckle (Lonicera), lilac (Syringa), forsythia, but it's
  best to feed them plants from the genus Ligustrum, because they also thrive in the winter
- they need higher stems with leaves and branches for climbing (and hiding), because they don't like the ground (they also like to hide behind a bigger bark)
- water to drink:
  - a cup of water, filled with paper tissue or
  - a light spray on the leaves daily
- water for food plant:
  - you can cover a narrow glass or container of water with food foil, tinfoil (or cotton wool), into which you made holes, so that you can put stems with leaves in the water to extend the freshness of the leaves
- they can drown in water, so make sure to protect them
- you can keep the eggs on dry paper in an airy space (in another enclosure)
- the eggs hatch after 2-5 months at temperature 20-25 °C in relative humidity (it also says, that they can hatch when it's totally dry)

stems with leaves of Ligustrum in a glass, covered with foil

the whole terrarium with Ligustrum in the glass and a bigger bark

don't hold them near the eyes because they can squirt an irritating substance
wash your hands after you held them in hands

my sources:

Thanks for your time. 💙 I hope you will like this post. 😊 You can follow me for more posts about animals and other stuff. 😎 Enjoy life and see you soon. 😍

World of Photography Beta V1.0
>Learn more here<

Thank you for participating in #animalphotography, the weekly selection will be released on Tuesday.

You have earned 5.10 XP for sharing your photo!

Daily Stats
Daily photos: 1/2
Daily comments: 0/5
Multiplier: 1.02
_{Server time: 00:58:38}

Account Level: 0
Total XP: 10.15/100.00
Total Photos: 2
Total comments: 0
Total contest wins: 0

When you reach level 1 you will start receiving up to two daily upvotes

Follow: @photocontests
Join the Discord channel: click!
Play and win SBD: @fairlotto
Daily Steem Statistics: @dailysteemreport
Learn how to program Steem-Python applications: @steempytutorials
Developed and sponsored by: @juliank

Sort:

Trending

[-]

steemitboard (66) 7 years ago

Congratulations @mystic-creature! You have completed some achievement on Steemit and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :

Award for the number of upvotes

Click on any badge to view your own Board of Honor on SteemitBoard.
For more information about SteemitBoard, click here

If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word STOP

By upvoting this notification, you can help all Steemit users. Learn how here!

$0.00

1 vote

photocontests3 (48) 7 years ago

damage-un (25) 7 years ago

They look like aliens :P

mystic-creature (47) 7 years ago

we always asks ourselves, how aliens in a human way look like, but we never wonder, how aliens in an animal way look :P maybe they really are the animal aliens :)

trudeehunter (71) 7 years ago (edited)

A very interesting blog with great information @mystic -creature I have never seen this insect before so thank you for introducing him to me. You have put a lot of effort into this post. Well Done. Many thanks for your kind Follow. Am Following you in return.

I am so grateful that you like it. :) Yep, they are special, and I also have them myself for 2 months now. Thank you for your follow too. I will describe many other animals as well and also write about other interesting stuff. "See" you :)

trudeehunter (71) 7 years ago

Won. I look forward to seeing other animals and reading your blogs. See you again soon.