Xenophasmina simile "Chiang Mai" [AMAZING camouflage]

Xenophasmina simile "Chiang Mai" [AMAZING camouflage]

Postby Westley Price » Tue Sep 23, 2014 9:24 am

Hi Guys

These have started hatching some time ago, but they are just too fragile and small as L1 to photograph. Now they are L2 and I thought I would share their AMAZING camouflage with you.

Here is one of the L2 ones, just sitting on a stretched stocking I use to cover each cage. Doesn't look like it can hide too well, does it?

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And this is what happens when you place it on a stick or leaf! Pity I am using green, smooth vegetation. On a normal stick this fellow would disappear!

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The hairy fringes of their legs allow them to blend in well when they flatten themselves onto vegetation. I blew on these to make them "stand up" to allow you to see the hairs better.

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How many can you count?

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I will take some pictures at a later stage on a normal twig to show the camouflage even better.
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Re: Xenophasmina simile "Chiang Mai" [AMAZING camouflage]

Postby fires » Tue Sep 23, 2014 9:35 am

Nature is just amazing. Very nice pictures.
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Re: Xenophasmina simile "Chiang Mai" [AMAZING camouflage]

Postby Mehelya » Tue Sep 23, 2014 12:12 pm

Amazing, as you said Westley. Think it would be impossible to see these unless they were out in the open.
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Re: Xenophasmina simile "Chiang Mai" [AMAZING camouflage]

Postby Ruan Stander » Tue Sep 23, 2014 5:30 pm

That is just phenomenal.
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Re: Xenophasmina simile "Chiang Mai" [AMAZING camouflage]

Postby Westley Price » Thu Oct 09, 2014 8:12 am

Okay so I realized my previous pictures didnt really show the camouflage well, so I took a few more.

Also, I finally got my new camera yesterday (nothing fancy, just a mik-en-druk) so wanted to test it out.

Surely this constitutes amazing camouflage?

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Re: Xenophasmina simile "Chiang Mai" [AMAZING camouflage]

Postby levi_20 » Thu Oct 09, 2014 9:41 am

Very cool to see! Do they drop down into this camo position if you approach and they are walking along a branch, or is it more of a permanent position?
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Re: Xenophasmina simile "Chiang Mai" [AMAZING camouflage]

Postby Westley Price » Thu Oct 09, 2014 9:44 am

Hi Levi

During daylight hours that it their permanent position and the only way they move is when you harass them.

As soon as the sun goes down, the cage just comes to life as they start moving and feeding. Very cool.
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Re: Xenophasmina simile "Chiang Mai" [AMAZING camouflage]

Postby levi_20 » Fri Oct 10, 2014 12:02 am

Epic! Would they drop down like this if you harassed them at night while they are active?
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Re: Xenophasmina simile "Chiang Mai" [AMAZING camouflage]

Postby Westley Price » Fri Oct 10, 2014 6:52 am

Sometimes they drop down if you touch them at night, but often when I replace the foodplants, I find it difficult to get them to move.

So it's really unpredictable to know how they will react to touch. Some of the other species completely freak out when touched and immediately drop to the ground where the wriggle ferociously.
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Re: Xenophasmina simile "Chiang Mai" [AMAZING camouflage]

Postby levi_20 » Fri Oct 10, 2014 10:20 am

Haha cool thanks! I dont know much about these insects but its interesting to know how aware these guys are of their camouflage and if they drop down in response to a threat or just kind of have a default day time hide night time move around cycle.
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Re: Xenophasmina simile "Chiang Mai" [AMAZING camouflage]

Postby Westley Price » Wed Dec 31, 2014 11:40 am

My first male of this species has also matured and they lose a lot of that amazing camouflage within one moult from their last nymph phase to adult.

The also rely a lot more on speedy movement instead of simply sitting still. I wonder if this is a strategy to increase changes of breeding/mating my making the adults less camouflaged and more mobile.

Adult male

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Thanx for looking.
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Re: Xenophasmina simile "Chiang Mai" [AMAZING camouflage]

Postby Ruan Stander » Wed Dec 31, 2014 12:36 pm

That's really interesting. What is the average lifespan of these creatures ?
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Re: Xenophasmina simile "Chiang Mai" [AMAZING camouflage]

Postby Westley Price » Wed Dec 31, 2014 6:11 pm

Thanx Predator

Ag, the lifespan varies a lot among phasmids, but typically one can use incubation time as an indication of lifespan.

This species lives about a year which is a typical lifespan. Unlike reptiles, where the larger ones have longer lifespans, phasmids do not follow this rule. Some of the smallest species such as Dares sp. live longest.
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Re: Xenophasmina simile "Chiang Mai" [AMAZING camouflage]

Postby Westley Price » Sun Feb 01, 2015 3:43 pm

Have a few adult pairs now and some of the females are swelling up nicely with eggs.

Adult female

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Adult pair on hand for scale

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Re: Xenophasmina simile "Chiang Mai" [AMAZING camouflage]

Postby Westley Price » Wed Feb 25, 2015 8:03 pm

Finally got some eggs from this species, super chuffed. Eggs look cool.

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This is my nicest female

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