Tony James' photos with the keyword: Phasmid

Phasmidae: The nymph, in its penultimate instar, has a very effective camouflage in full view looking like a bit of broken twig. Like many Phasmid species, they are a master of camouflage.

Phasmidae: A difficult species to show the wings, as they only display in flight or in defence. The sudden flash of colour would probably startle an intending predator, which would probably recoil a bit, giving the insect a chance to make its aerial escape. This is the best illustration I have managed to get.

Phasmidae: The reared nymph, finally an adult male with functional wings. It is still extremely cryptic if at rest amongst twigs. This picture shows it slightly disturbed to make it easier to see, as normally the antennae would be sandwiched between the fore-legs, which then also hides the head. Sadly, we couldn't find any females in the area, so this is just an example of the species. It would have been nice to get this species into culture as they feed easily on Eucalyptus species.

Phasmidae: This is another species which is reluctant to display its wings, but it can be coaxed briefly, again as a flash display. The pretty wing pattern is similar to a Caribbean Pterinoxylus sps which has been in culture in the Phasmid Study Group for a number of years, so it is probably a close relation.

The only other specimen found this time, which is also a juvenile female. I searched this area time and again to find a male, but no others were found. hopefully the wild female adult shown previously has laid fertile eggs, but it remains to be seen.

Phasmidae. Body length 82mm. Our first find this trip! A pretty little stick insect which mimics dead grass at rest, laying along the leaf or stem. If disturbed it raises its wings like sails in an attempt at shock reaction from potential predators. Although not brilliant colours, the peacock blue flush at the wing- roots, and the dark- lined wings certainly make this little insect interesting.

Phasmidae Body length: ~50mm. Found on our first night walk in Gamboa, this is a second Instar nymph which should turn out to be quite a large species.

Phasmidae Body length: ~70mm One of the target species that we found in 2007 in this area previously. Although cryptically brown at rest, it relies on flash colouration when disturbed as its wings are bright orange. Obvious when flying, the insect can alight and fold its wings very quickly suddenly becoming invisible against tree bark. Although we were not able to verify it previously, it is probably Pseudophasma bicolor, the same as a Pseudophasma we found at Arenal, Costa Rica.

The possibility of Phasmids increased as I spotted a half-grown nymph resting along a twig next to the path. This was definitely going to be target for the evening.

Having seen the insects we were looking for Mohammed asked if he could join us to see what night-time insects we would find. Later in the evening, he re-joined us and together with another of his friends we entered the Jungle track. On the same bush as before we found a number of nymphs of the same species we had previously found, of which this is one.

A number of the nymphs were kept and brought back to the UK to rear. They proved quite difficult, generally only accepting their own leaves, and as the supply dwindled, a few died, until we found that they would eat "Iceberg" Lettuce as a substitute. this is the only one which finally reached adulthood. It hasn't been identified even yet, but it was probably a Necrosia species.

This was the Stick Insect species we were looking for, found on a Guava bush a few miles drive down the road from where we were staying. This is a half-grown female nymph about 150mm long.