Macleay’s Spectre Stick Insect Baby

The Paris Zoo is nurturing baby Macleay’s Spectre Stick Insects born in March 2022. They are in a separate terrarium to keep them safe. The baby Stick Insect is called a nymph.

The female Macleay’s Spectre Stick Insect breeds parthenogenically, meaning that she lays eggs that hatch without being fertilized. The female lays 100-1,200 eggs on the ground or on a plant. The eggs hatch after about 4 months into nymphs, which look like ants. The nymphs eat plants and grow into an adult stick insect. 

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Pink Wing Stick Insect

The Pink Wing Stick Insect (Sipyloidea sipylus) is a phasmid insect in the Sipyloidea family of stick insects.  It is also known as the Madagascan Stick Insect. It is related to the Praying Mantis. 

The Pink Wing Stick Insect is long, thin and stick-like. It has a light-brown body that is camouflaged to look like dry straw, or dry grass. Both the male and the female have wings, but the wings of the female are too small for flying. 

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Macleay’s Spectre Stick Insect

The Macleay’s Spectre Stick Insect (Extatosoma tiaratum) is a phasmid insect, related to the Praying Mantis. It is also known as the Giant Prickly Stick Insect and the Spiny Leaf Insect.

The Macleay’s Spectre Stick Insect can be brown, white, cream, green, reddish, or yellowish and is camouflaged in plants. It has a long, rounded body. Both the male and the female have wings, but the wings of the female are too small for flying. The male has spikes on his face, and the female has spikes on her body and face.

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