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Project Noah Nature School
Extatosoma tiaratum
Highly mimetic of dry briar leaves. This female has no wings. This brown spiny phasmid has become a popular pet.
Arboreal. Found on Eucalyptus, Common in Queensland. This stick insect was bred in captivity from an egg and does not survive Victorian winters if kept outdoors.
Males are very different, thin and winged. They were once thought to be a different species. Females are parthenogenic with un-mated eggs producing daughters only. Photos taken on citrus tree - not a foodplant. Although called a leaf insect, it is a true stick insect. Pic 4 is a hatchling, imitating the red headed meat ant. Pic 5 is the male with wings set outspread. Pic #6 is the egg with frenulum.
Spotted on Dec 26, 2011
Submitted on Dec 26, 2011
31 Comments (1–25)
Thank you Mayra and Andrea
WOW! Fascinating!!!
Great series Martin. Good spotting!
Thank you for your kind words Antonio.
fantastic series martinl,congrats on the great work you do here,thanks for sharing,your spotting page is a LESSON for all of us
Thanks for your comments
love it!
That's an awesome photo! Well done!
Fantastic!!!
This looks the same
http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/109...
Thanks Mandy. This one is a captive bred adult female - winter is too cold for them to survive down here. Native to northeastern Australia but kept as pets worldwide.
You found these in Georgia?! I'll have to keep an eye out for them in my yard too.
Wow! This is an incredible spotting!
I put her on the citrus for a bright background, she started to take a bite, never having seen a non edible leaf in her life, and quickly stopped. They're as docile as my cat and will sit there posing all day..
looks like she's saying " Is this pose alright - click please" - absolutely wonderful !!. Pic #4 (excluding main pic) looks like me as a teenager !!
- great information and series of pics. Thanks.
I can hear her calling out martin... "Where are you going!? Don't leave me up here."
I've added her egg to the series.
Carol; praying mantids are carnivorous and predatory. They are live feeders. This is a lot of work. I'm sticking with sticks. They may be slow but they eat eucalyptus leaves, or rose leaves, or oak. That is easy.
Really awesome! I want one!!!!
That hatchling REALLY is cute!
martinl: I see, I did not look up their habitat in Australia before posting. Extatosoma are popular pets all around the world an I have kept them too.
You added the wing photo! WOW! That is so cool that you raise them! I am thinking about raising praying mantis.
these are great. I just saw a fascinating documentary on pet beetles in Japan, "Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo"
Just added the male stick insect. Just added the cutest hatchling. Oh yes, and I corrected the typo - thanks argybee.
Just to clarify for Walking leaf - this species is not found in Victoria. I have bred this insect.