PHASMIDA, Leaf Insects and Stick Insects.
There are probably 2,000 species of stick insect and they are remarkable for their very effective camouflage. As well as their stick-like appearance they are capable of remaining absolutely still, or just swaying very gently, like a branch in the wind. A few species are very long and about as fat as a man’s little finger; they can grow to 33cm in length. Acrophylla wulfingi from Australia is one of these giants and it is easy to keep in captivity. In common with many other species wulfingi has widespread wings which it can spread in a defensive situation and these it can use to glide from one branch to another, though it never actually takes off. Extatasoma tiaratum males do actually take off and are very active, but the female is an extraordinarily heavy and fat insect with undeveloped wings; she is almost the heaviest insect in the world. These and most other Phasmids can be kept feeding on bramble leaves.
Particularly the males of some species are almost as slender as a grass stem and most difficult to see amongst vegetation. Some stick insects are capable of laying fertile eggs without mating and, in fact, males of at least one species are so rare that they are almost never seen. The leaf insect has to be seen to be believed. The female is just like a walking bunch of guava leaves, yet is well camouflaged on almost any plant, even bramble which these will also take. Leaf insects are a little difficult to keep in captivity until you gain experience but they are worth the effort. The important thing is to keep the eggs and the young nymphs moist. Spray the food plant daily, but don’t overdo it. Leaf insects come from southern Asia, notably Java and Sri Lanka.
DICTYOPTERA, Cockroaches and Mantids.
Cockroaches like warmth. With the warmth and the abundance of food they were particularly found in old fashioned kitchens and in ships’ galleys. Accordingly they have a bad reputation for being nasty and disease ridden. Naturally the thought of insects among the food is repugnant but it is only because of this that they have their unpopular reputation
. There thousands of species, mostly tropical, but in Europe there are only about a half dozen that we come across. They are sometimes called “black beetles” but they are not Coleoptera or beetles and are more closely allied to crickets and grasshoppers. Mantids likewise are rather reminiscent of the grasshoppers. A mantis is a weird and rather curious sight when you see one for the first time. It sits absolutely still until you notice it is slowly turning its head on the look out for its prey. It lashes out its forelegs and grabs a passing insect which it then slowly eats-alive. It is a real education and interest to keep a mantis at home and watch it. They can sometimes be bought and they are common in most warm countries.
HEMIPTERA, Plant-sucking Bugs, Bug, although used as a general term. n acorrect descriptionf or the Hemiptora.The Shield Bugs or Stink Bugs (called this because of the acrid smell they can give off as a defence) are some of the prettiest of insects. They are rather bectie-like. The Cuckoo-spit is caused by the nymph of one of these plant sucking bugs and it eventually matches out as a Froghopper with tremendous power in its legs to make it leap. The curious form of the Tree Hoppers and Thorn Insects is really something to be marvelled at : even the wildest dreams of science fiction could not improve on the shapes and colours of these. The Cicada, whose shrill drumming call epitomises a tropical evening or a hot day in the Mediterrancan region, is another plant bug. The larva or nymph lives under-
ground on root sap for years before it emerges to become an adult. Some cicadas are very gaily coloured and in Malaysia there is a giant species with a wingspan greater than a man’s hand. In the tropics of Asia there is another large plant bug with very attractive colouring, known as the Lantern Fly. Some have enormous and brightly coloured eyespots on the wings an
d others have a grotesque long extended wax-like head with the markings of a crocodile’s teeth and eyes! Economically the most important of the Hemiptera are the Aphids which include greenfly, blackfly, woolly aphis,
whitefly and scale insects. These multiply so fast that they are very hard to control. It does not take long for a colony to sap a plant so badly that it will not flower or bear fruit and it will often die.
