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I've taken a huge interest in insects lately and have decided to bring into my home a new creature - the Extatosoma tiaratum, also known as the Giant Spiny Leaf Insect or Macleay's Spectre stick insect. This critter is absolutely gorgeous and is fascinating to watch!
The animal I purchased is a nymph (the life stage of stick insects, leaf insects and mantids goes egg>nymph>sub-adult>adult), I'm not one-hundred per cent certain of her age but judging by size she is still very young. These animals go through various moults throughout their life (where they shed their old skin and emerge larger and more robust). I'd estimate she is around five to seven centimetres from head to tail at this moment in time, she may reach upwards and beyond twenty centimetres when fully grown. You can tell she is female by her large abdomen which also sports various spines.
The Extatosoma tiaratum's diet in captivity mostly consists of bramble and oak leaves whereas in the wild they will dine on eucalyptus. I've ordered a pesticide free eucalyptus gunnii tree that will be grown in our garden as a food plant as well as being a medicinal "herb" (a little large for a herb, but hey).
When threatened these animals have a habit of swaying from side to side to mimic a dead leaf blowing in the breeze; I witnessed this behaviour earlier when I swapped out my little one's food plant and I couldn't stop laughing, with all due respect it looked like she was dancing to some crappy 90's funk music and looked far from intimidating. As well as dancing to scare off their predators the Extatosoma tiaratum has been known to mimic scorpions; they'll raise their abdomen above their head in the "about to strike" position, this behaviour is also known to be an attempt the insect makes at looking like a dead, dried leaf and they sit this way when they are resting. The males can secrete a fluid that apparently smells a lot like toffee but this is completely harmless to humans though is probably disgusting to other animals.
As of yet she doesn't have a name, I'm considering calling her "Spectre" and so far that name seems favourite. This is my first attempt using the macro setting on my father's camera to please excuse the quality of the photos, I don't think they're too bad though.
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The animal I purchased is a nymph (the life stage of stick insects, leaf insects and mantids goes egg>nymph>sub-adult>adult), I'm not one-hundred per cent certain of her age but judging by size she is still very young. These animals go through various moults throughout their life (where they shed their old skin and emerge larger and more robust). I'd estimate she is around five to seven centimetres from head to tail at this moment in time, she may reach upwards and beyond twenty centimetres when fully grown. You can tell she is female by her large abdomen which also sports various spines.
The Extatosoma tiaratum's diet in captivity mostly consists of bramble and oak leaves whereas in the wild they will dine on eucalyptus. I've ordered a pesticide free eucalyptus gunnii tree that will be grown in our garden as a food plant as well as being a medicinal "herb" (a little large for a herb, but hey).
When threatened these animals have a habit of swaying from side to side to mimic a dead leaf blowing in the breeze; I witnessed this behaviour earlier when I swapped out my little one's food plant and I couldn't stop laughing, with all due respect it looked like she was dancing to some crappy 90's funk music and looked far from intimidating. As well as dancing to scare off their predators the Extatosoma tiaratum has been known to mimic scorpions; they'll raise their abdomen above their head in the "about to strike" position, this behaviour is also known to be an attempt the insect makes at looking like a dead, dried leaf and they sit this way when they are resting. The males can secrete a fluid that apparently smells a lot like toffee but this is completely harmless to humans though is probably disgusting to other animals.
As of yet she doesn't have a name, I'm considering calling her "Spectre" and so far that name seems favourite. This is my first attempt using the macro setting on my father's camera to please excuse the quality of the photos, I don't think they're too bad though.
