Carausius Morosus – the Indian Stick Insect
Carausius morosus - Indian Stick Insect
Appearance
Measuring around 8cm, they have a French bean shaped cylindrical body. Body colour ranges from yellowish, to green to light and sometimes quite a dark brown. the forelegs of the adult have red patches at their base and the mid legs can display hints of yellow.
Origin
C. morosus was originally collected in Tamil Nadu, India, and it is quite likely that current UK cultures are descended from the originals collected so many decades ago..
How to keep them
They don’t require anything fancy or expensive, just a simple mesh or screen cage measuring a minimum of 30cm in height so that they can moult and room temperature is perfectly satisfactory for this species. We suggest in the range of 20-24 C (68 -75 F).
These are very hardy insects and can tolerate dry and humid conditions, but it is always a good idea to give them a light spray of water once a day to drink.
They don’t need any fancy substrates, but it is good practice to lay a sheet of newspaper on the bottom to provide easy removal of their poo and eggs.
Indian stick insects are VERY polyphagous, this means they will eat a very wide variety of different plants including, privet, ivy, hawthorn, bramble, rose, oak hazel and many more!
Whatever you choose, always avoid collecting the food from areas where pesticides may have been used.
You can use a glass jar filled with water to keep the food fresh longer, and reduce the need to change it so much.
How do they reproduce?
Indian stick insects are parthenogeneic.
There are no males and the mature female lays unfertilised eggs.
All of the offspring will be female, but sometimes you might get an apparent male, but these are not fertile and are considered gynandromorphs – part male and part female.
What do the eggs look like?
They are dark brown in colour with a bright yellow bobble on the top called an operculum – this is where the newly hatched nymphs emerge.
You can collect these by gently sifting through the poops with a small paintbrush and incubate them in a plastic box of damp moss – it is better at reducing the incidence of mould.
The eggs can take up to four months or more to hatch.
This is not an aggressive species, so newly hatched nymphs don’t necessarily have to be separated from the adults.
