Black beauty stick insect

Description:

The females are 55 to 70 mm and the males 40 to 50 millimeters long. The yellow eyes, yellow ringed antennae and the bright red upper lip forming a striking contrast to the jet black body. The hind wings are bright red at the rear. The forward quarter they are, just like the very small, as tegmina trained forewing, with an eye-catching black, white net pattern.

Habitat:

Peruphasma schultei is a species of stick insect found in the Cordillera del Condor region of northern Peru. In the wild the insect feeds on Schinus plants, but will feed on privet in captivity. In Peru they are only known to exist in a region of less than 5 hectares, but since their discovery they have become increasingly popular as pets worldwide due to their unusual colouration and they are now bred regularly in captivity. They have a black body, yellow eyes and red/brownish mouth parts, with adults having bright red vestigial wings. When disturbed, adults of this species are able to spray a defensive liquid from glands at the rear of the head which can be irritating to the skin and eyes.

Notes:

Pictures from home bread animals.