Lord Howe island phasmid (Dryococelus australis)

[Hornets inverts]

Few pics of one of my female D. australis along with a bunch of eggs. This is my No.1 favourite species of phasmid and am so very excited to be breeding them finally.

 

[Drakk]

That is one Cool bug! =)

 

[Elytra and Antenna]

Are they becoming common in the hobby over there? I didn't realize how close they were to Eurycantha.

 

[Bugs In Cyberspace]

The first time I heard of this insect the article was titled "Rarest Insect in the World". It amazing to see a real example of humans helping a species to continue. Of course, humans are almost as effective as Time in altering the universe.

 

[Hornets inverts]

@Elytra and Antenna, Still very rare in the hobby over here, i'm yet to see another private keeper with this species. Took me a good 2years to get hold of my stock. According to melbourne zoo no one they have supplied insects to has had any luck keeping them going. Yes they do resemble a eurycantha but since having the chance to raise them from egg to mature adults i have seen how different they really are. In many ways they are nothing like Eurycantha and are not actually related to them at all.

 

[Deroplatys]

Holy crap!
Best of luck to you!
What foodplants do they take?
What conditions are you keeping them under?

I knew the zoo was breeding them but i never knew they were giving some to private keepers, hope they do well

 

[Elytra and Antenna]

In many ways they are nothing like Eurycantha and are not actually related to them at all.

Really, what phasmid are they more closely related to?

 

[Hornets inverts]

Holy crap!
Best of luck to you!
What foodplants do they take?
What conditions are you keeping them under?

I knew the zoo was breeding them but i never knew they were giving some to private keepers, hope they do well

These guys are thriving on a wide variety of ficus species. I just house them in a large plastic tub turned on its end to maximise height, lid cut out and fly screen glued in for ventilation. Tub is bare apart from laying container and cut food plants in a bottle of water. Mist every day or 2 and kept at room temp which is currently around the low-mid 20s

---------- Post added 08-22-2011 at 03:17 PM ----------

Really, what phasmid are they more closely related to?

I have been told by one researcher that DNA has placed them in the Necrosciinae family but i'm not convinced thats the case, to me they have much more in common with the Phasmatinae family

 

[Deroplatys]

Well if you ever get any ova spare
Lol, best of luck with them, glad they are doing good in captivity

 

[Spookystarbuck]

Few pics of one of my female D. australis along with a bunch of eggs. This is my No.1 favourite species of phasmid and am so very excited to be breeding them finally.

How do you get a hold of some of These?

 

[Dennis Nedry]

How do you get a hold of some of These?

Usually, you don't unless you own a zoo

 

[schmiggle]

Also, if you do find someone selling them, they were probably acquired both illegally and immorally, though I think with this particular species you're unlikely to period.

 

[myrmecophile]

I to can not imagine these being legally available to the general public.