Cyclone Larry Profile

About the Cyclone Larry Stick Insect

Cyclone Larry insects are named after the incident that involved a cyclone disaster in North Queensland. Cyclone Larry Insects are also called Phasmids.

Males: Usually males are smaller and have bigger wings but females are bigger and have smaller wings.

Females: Generally female stick insects live longer (twice as long) because they are bigger.

Stick insects live for 4 to 10 months as nymphs and then 5 to 12 months as an adult, depending on the species. Bigger species live longer than smaller species.

Where are they found?

Cyclone stick insects are found mostly in regions of the rain forests. This map below is of Queensland which includes the three locations where our stick insects are commonly found in Australia.

Dietary requirements

Cyclone Larry insects eat eucalyptus leaves.

Small eucalyptus leaves are not suitable as they contain higher levels of oil which is harder for them to digest. We spray water on the leaves once a day, as they drink the droplets of water when they need to.

Our specific stick insects eat fresh eucalyptus leaves which have to be changed every 3-5 days.

Shedding

Our insects shed their skin about 8-9 times before reaching adulthood. As soon as the insect starts to eat eucalyptus leaves they start to shed. We have to leave the stick insect uninterrupted beneath the leaves while it sheds. This process can take up 20 minutes for the shedding to be complete.

Here is a picture of our stick insect's exoskeleton within a week of their growth. They do this because the rigid outer skeleton skin can no longer support its growth between the molts.

Natural Habitat

Looking at the Cyclone Larry Insect's natural habitat is an important factor to touch on, as a group we are remaking a new home for them.

Some of the requirements for a habitat for the cyclone stick insect is:

They always need airflow and circulation around them so that they are not congested or humid inside their enclosure. As the rain forest is a very open space, these stick insects need the oxygen.
These stick insects need to have an adequate amount of space where they can hang around comfortably and also feast off the leaves.
Eucalyptus leaves must be tall enough for them to climb up the top of the branches. This is because this is a natural instinct that these stick insects have. They climb up high to stay away from predators that try to eat them, also to adapt to weather conditions.
They would need a mix of sunlight and shade, as their adaptation of rain forest is a mix of both. Since the rain forest is a tropical place, the Cyclone Larry stick insects love to live in temperatures around 25 degrees.
Gathering a lot of plants and sources of leaves for them to eat as, they love to crawl up and over the place to entertain themselves.
These stick insects usually live in between leaves, bushes and branches. This is so that their bodies are camouflaged to the environment, avoiding any predators.

REPRODUCTION

Although our insects have not reproduced we think that this is necessary for their profile.

Females may also lay eggs even when she hasn’t mated.
When the Female stick insect starts to lay eggs, they can be collected from the bottom of the enclosure and stored in a small container.
These insects tiny eggs look like plant seeds and may be collected by ants. (See in photo)
Female stick insects can reproduce nymphs (baby stick insects) without a male, this reproduction method is called parthenogenesis, but the eggs only contain female stick insects, like a clone of the female.
In order for male stick insects to be born a female has to mate with a male.

This is an important factor to consider in case our stick insects reproduce within the weeks we are taking care of them!

FOOD WEB

Our insects as well as most other insects are apart of a food web. Down below is a food web that presents the relationship of the stick insects and wildlife. As you can see, insects are known as primary consumers as they eat what are known as the producer, any plant or grass.

food webb.docx

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