Common Name:
Macleay's Spectre
Identification:
Female:
Corpore fere quinque unciarum longo cuneiformi viridi, capite
tiarâ acuminatâ spinulosâ coronato, thorace
antice angusto subdepresso spinuloso postice dilatato convexiori
marginibus lateralibus denticulatis, abdomine antice cylindrico
medio valde dilatato margine dentato et in processum segmentorum
trium linearem desinente segmentis supra binis laminis dentatis
in medio armatis, elytris viridibus subovatis minutis alarum
rudimentis brevioribus; pedibus viridibus coxis triquetris,
anticis angulo interiori tridentato, superiori denticulato
processu ad apicem cristato, inferiori dilatato rotundato, quatuor
posticis dilatatis ovatis margine denticulatis, femoribus anticis
extus dilatatis rotundatis apicem versus subemarginatis, quatuor
posticis triquetris angulis dentatis exteriori valde dilatato.
(from Macleay 1826.)
Length:
Female 5 inches
(from Musgrave 1922.)
Coloring:
The species is highly variable in colouring,
being oberved as brownish, dun, reddish, greenish.
The female is heavy-bodied, brachypterous and has numerous spines and
integumental expansions on the body and legs, including a tuft of spines
on the conical occiput of the hypognathous head.
(from Key 1994.)
Body leaf-like and spined, in males slender and elongate, in females
dilated and depressed; back of the head conically elevated and spined;
males alate, females micropterous; legs triangular in cross-section;
carinae of femora and tibiae, especially in females, partially with
strong laminate-dilatations and serrate-dentations.
The male has large mottled wings, a smaller tuft of head spines, and
3 occelli. Males fly readily when disturbed or when in search of females.
(from Rentz 1996.)
The 1st instar
has an aposematic pattern of black, with orange head and
whitish collar; in its colouring, posture and movements
it appears to mimic ants of the genus Leptomyrmex.
(from Key 1994.)
They are very active in the early instar
stages and seem to continually seek to travel upward, seemingly with
an effort to attain the highest branches of the trees they occupy.
(from Rentz 1996.)
Eggs are dropped to the forest floor. They can be flicked by the abdomen,
possibly startle reflex (you often hear them clicking against the glass
when you walk pas the cage). Eggs vary greatly in color, even from a
single indiviual; they range from amost entirely white, to mottled brown
and cream, to a solid dark brown.
Habitat:
The insect often hangs inverted amongst foliage, with its highly
procryptic abdomen curled over its back.
Note typical vegetation, e.g.
tropical rainforest, temperate rainforest,
grasslands,
alpine, etc.
Similar Species:
Extatosoma bufonium
Rearing Notes:
This species is a very common laboratory, school and pet species.
This Australian species is so easily reared, it is a popular pet as
far afield as Britain and Europe.
PSG notes indicate the following foodplants have been used successfully
in captivity: Bramble, Eucalyptus, Hawthorn, Oak, Pyracantha, Raspberry,
Rose.
For a stick insect with body length 127mm, to keep 2 adult females,
you need a cage at least 600mm high, 300mm deep and 300mm wide.
Range:
NE coastal, SE coastal QLD, NSW
Extralimital Distribution: New Guinea.
Status:
Captive population is large and successful.
It is not known if this species is endangered in the wild,
as there is insufficient sighting history.
References
-
Balderson, J., Rentz,
D.C.F. and Roach, A.M.E. (1998).
in
Houston, W.K.K. & Wells, A. (1998) (eds)
Zoological Catalogue of Australia.
Vol. 23.
Archaeognatha, Zygentoma, Blattodea, Isoptera, Mantodea, Dermaptera,
Phasmatodea, Embioptera, Zoraptera.
Melbourne: CSIRO Publishing, Australia (ISBN 0643 06035 9).
pp. 347 - 376.
-
Bedford, G.O. (1978).
Biology and ecology of the Phasmatodea.
Ann. Rev. Entomol. 23: 125-149
-
Brewster, M.N., Brewster, A.A. and Crouch, N. (1946).
Family Phasmidæ (Leaf and Stick Insects).
In
Life Stories of Australian Insects.
Sydney: Lake & Ashes.
2nd Edition.
pp. 26-31
-
Bruins, E. (1999).
The Complete Encyclopedia of Terrarium.
Grange Books.
-
Campbell, K. G., Hadlington, P., 1967.
The biology of the three species of phasmatids which occur in
plague numbers in forests of south eastern Australia.
Forestry Commission NSW Res. Note No. 20, 38 pp.
-
Clark, J. T. (1975).
A conspicuous spermatophore in the phasmid Extatosoma tiaratum
Macleay.
Entomol. Mon. Mag. 110: 81-82
-
Clark, J.T. (1976).
The eggs of stick insects (Phasmida): a review with
descriptions of the eggs of eleven species.
Syst. Ent. 1: 95-105.
-
Froggatt, W.W. (1905).
Notes on stick or leaf insects, with an account of Podacanthus
wilkinsoni as a forest pest, and the spiny leaf insect Extatosoma
tiaratum, in the orchard.
Agricultural Gazette of New South Wales 16: 515-520
-
Froggatt, W.W. (1921).
Notes on the Spiny Green Phasma. (Extatosoma tiaratum.)
Australian Naturalist, Sydney, iv, 16, October 1, pp. 235-237
-
Froggatt, W.W. (1922).
Description of a new phasma belonging to the genus Extatosoma.
Proc. Linn. Soc. NSW, 47: 344-345, pl. 38.
-
Goode, J. (1980).
Insects of Australia.
Angus & Robertson, Sydney.
ISBN 0 207 13427 8.
pp. 39-42
-
Gray, G.R. (1833).
The Entomology of Australia in a Series of Monographs. Part 1.
The monograph of the genus Phasma.
London: Longman & Co. 28 pp. 8 pls
-
Gray, G.R. (1835).
‘Synopsis of the Species of Insects Belonging to
the Family of Phasmidae.’ 48pp.
(Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green and Longman: London.)
-
Gurney, A.B. (1947).
Notes on some remarkable Australasian walkingsticks, including a
synopsis of the Genus Extatosoma (Orthoptera: Phasmatidae).
Annals of the Entomological Society of America. 40(3): 373-396.
-
Heather, N.W. (1965).
Studies on female genitalia of Queensland Phasmida,
Journal of the Entomological Society of Queensland,
4: 33-38.
-
Hughes, L., 1996.
When an Insect is more like a Plant.
Nature Australia, 25(4): 30-38
-
Key, K.H.L. (1991).
Phasmatodea (Stick-insects). pp. 394-404 in CSIRO (ed.) The
Insects of Australia. A textbook for students and research workers.
Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, Vol. 1, 2nd Edn.
-
Korboot, K. (1961)
Observations on life histories of
Acrophylla tessellata Gray and
Extatosoma tiaratum Macleay (Phasmida).
University of Queensland Papers Department of Entomology,
1(2): 161-69,
The University of Queeensland Pres, St. Lucia, 24th August.
-
Macleay, W.S. (1826).
Annulosa. Catalogue of Insects, collected by
Captain King, R.N.
In Captain Phillip P. King, Narrative of a survey of
the Intertropical, and Western Coasts of Australia performed between the
years 1818 and 1822. With an appendix, containing various subjects relating to hydrography and natural history.
Vol. 2, appendix B, pp. 438-69, Table B.
J. Murray, London. viii+637 p. (15 April)
-
Musgrave, A. (1922).
Stick and Leaf Insects,
Australian Museum Magazine,
October, 1922, pp. 171-181
-
Rainbow, W.J. (1897).
Catalogue of the described Phasmidae of Australia.
Records of the Australian Museum, 3(2), 37-44.
[Note that he made a mistake re Extatosoma popa and E. tiaratum
according to
Gurney, A.B. (1947).
Notes on some remarkable Australasian walkingsticks, including a
synopsis of the Genus Extatosoma (Orthoptera: Phasmatidae).
Annals of the Entomological Society of America. 40(3): 373-396.
.]
-
Rentz, D.C.F (1996).
Grasshopper Country,
Chapter 16,
Phasmatodea: Leaf and Stick Insects,
pp. 244-257
-
Tepper, J.G.O. (1902).
List of the Described Genera and Species of the Australian and Polynesian
Phasmidæ (Spectre-Insects).
Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 26: 278-287.
-
Vickery, V.R. (1983).
Catalogue of Australian stick insects (Phasmida,
Phasmatodea, Phasmatoptera, or Cheleutoptera). CSIRO
Australian Division of Entomology Technical Paper, No. 20, 15 pp.
Phasmid Study Group
This is PSG species 9.
Described in PSG Newsletter #2.
Web Links
This phasmid is particularly well represented by web pages,
probably because it is so easy to rear in captivity.
Synonyms
Copyright © 2000-2003
Peter Miller
This page was last changed 12-May-2003.
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