The Phasmid Study Group

MARCH 2004 NEWSLETTER No 98 ISSN 0268-3806

INDEX Page Content

2 Diary Dates 3 Editorial 4 The PSG - Where Did It Start? 9 Stick Talk 10 Food For Thought 11 C'est Pas Sorcier 12 The Newark Show "13 Building Your Own Cage 16 PSG Quiz 17 Photographing Phasmids 21 Pharnacia species 24 Yeovil LETS 25 My Life With Homo Sapiens 26 Extatosoma tiaratum 26 Joy's Cartoon 27 The Colour Page 28 PSG Merchandise 29 Wants & Exchanges 30 28 PSG Committee Above Page 17, Below Page 9.

I

Newsletter 98.1 Website: www.stickinsect.org.uk Diary Dates

Spring Entomological (formerly Kettering) Show

10.30 am, Sunday, March 28th 2004; Kettering Leisure Village, Kettering, Northants (Contact Jack Harris, 01455 444792).

ELG Spring Fair

9th May 2004. Pattishall Village Hall, Pattishall, Northants.

British Tarantula Society Exhibition 1 lam, Sunday, 16th May 2004. Woodgreen High School, Wednesbury, West Midlands (2 mins from Junction 9 of the M6). (Contact: Ray Hale 01323 489047). Newark Entomological Show

Sunday, 13lh June, (and again 121'1 December), !2am-4pm, Balderton, Newark (off the Al). (Contact for tables or information: Paul Holt, 01636 674723).

Green Fair

Saturday, 1 Ith July 2004. Somerset. (Does anyone know more details?)

PSG Summer Meeting

Saturday, 17th July 2004 - 11.30 am, Spencer Gallery, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London

Invertebrate Day at Colchester Zoo

Sunday, TBA August 2004 - Colchester Zoo, Maldon Road, Stanway, Essex. 01206 331292.

Lincoln Exotics (formerly: Invert) Show Sunday, TBA September 2004. Main Hall, North Kesteven Centre, Lincoln. (Just off the A1434, which is off the A46). (Contact Jim Tweadle, 01522 501241, e-mail: [email protected]). (Does anyone know more details?) Castle Drogo, AES Bugshow!

Saturday TBA October 2004.11 am-4.30pm, at Castle Drogo, Devon.. (Does anyone know more details?)

AES Exhibition Saturday, 2nd October, 2004, 1 lam. Kempton Park Racecourse, Staines Road, Kempton Park, Sunbury-on Thames, Middlesex. Contact: AES, PO Box 8774, London, SW7; E-mail: [email protected] Bugs & Beasties Show (date unknown)

Selby, North Yorkshire (Contact Steve Dye, www.bugsnstuff.co.uk). (Does anyone know more details?)

West of England Creepy Crawly Show (date etc unknown) (Does anyone know more details?) Please check with the organisers that shows are still on, & at times shown, before setting out - the PSG cannot be responsible for a wasted journey.

If you attend these or other shows, please send in a review for the Newsletter.

If you are aware of any additional shows involving phasmids, or other insects, spiders, etc, however big or small the show, please pass the details on to the editor.

The Phasmid Study Group is invited to exhibit at some shows. If you would like to help run our stand, please contact the member named, or Paul Jennings, our Exhibitions and Meeting Officer: 89 Brackensdale Avenue, Derby, DE22 4AF, Tel: 01332 343477.

REQUEST FOR ARTI CLES. ETC. FOR THE PS6 NEWSLETTER

Please send me your articles, reviews on shows and meetings, wants &

exchanges, drawings, photos, phasmid problems, answers to problems, r Jk crosswords, quizzes, puzzles, comments, web site details, etc, etc. Providers of such submissions are likely to receive a full colour Newsletter! My details are at the back of each Newsletter. Also send me your ideas or comments on the Newsletters. Many thanks, Editor.

Newsletter 98.2 Website: www.stickinsect.org.uk Eclitor'isail Welcome to the March edition of the PSG Newsletter. It is another bumper edition containing photos, articles, etc, generously provided by our membership. Hopefully, it will arrive without the minor formatting problem we had on some editions of the last Newsletter.

THE WINTER MEETING & AGM. I understand the AGM and winter meeting was an excellent event. The livestock and picture competitions being the icing on the cake of a very interesting day, which included a talk by Cameron on making stick insect cages. "Unfortunately", I was touring in the South African sun at the time, so missed it all, but I am pleased to say I have included in this Newsletter an article by Cameron covering all the information (and more) on cage making covered by his talk, a copy of the winning picture entry, and an article on taking photos of stick insects by none other than the winner of the picture competition. I also have lined up for the next Newsletter an article on the AGM and winter meeting, with photographs. (It would have been in this Newsletter, but there were a few problems producing it on time).

Meanwhile a brief summary of the AGM (thank you Judith for providing the details). Judith welcomed the members, and thanked me, Paul Brock and George Beccaloni for helping to produce the article on her retirement party in the December Newsletter. The officers of the committee each spoke, and Judith gave "apologies" from me and Paul Jennings, and read out our prepared notes. Committee membership: Kristien Rabaey agreed to replace Kim Povin as European representative, and Paul Taylor offered to assist Paul Jennings, our Exhibition & Meetings Officer (who had said he would continue if no-one else volunteered). [George and Jan Beccaloni, both curators in the Entomology Department, joined the meeting during the afternoon. George is more interested in cockroaches than stick-insects, but as Curator of Orthopteroid Insects he is responsible for all groups.]

GENESIS OF THE PSG. There is an awesome article on the next page on how the PSG began. Written by member Tony James aka PSG member No 1. It contains a fascinating insight into the beginnings of our group, and includes some early pictures. A very enjoyable read.

BACK COPIES OF NEWSLETTERS FOR SALE. Back copies of all Newsletters are now available at £2 each, or £1.50 each for copies before September 2001. Prices include postage in UK only. [Overseas members need to contact Paul Brock for details of the postage costs]. Copying will be done in batches within 2 to 3 months, so members need to be patient. The culture list refers out to which Newsletters cover each species.

MORE PHASMID INFORMATION. There is a comprehensive section on phasmids by Paul Brock in the well-illustrated Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia: Insects. Publ. Gale Group (December 2003) ISBN 0787657794. The book includes up to date text by many experts and is well worth the entomologist obtaining it at least by library loan.

PAYMENTS BY OVERSEAS MEMBERS. There is a new way for members (especially overseas members) to make payments to the PSG eg for membership renewal. The PSG has embraced Paypal, where you can pay securely by credit card. Details of it are on the PSG website www.stickinsect.org.uk. (But there are some countries, eg the Philippines, which have not yet embraced Paypaf). Alternatively, the old-fashioned way is to send a £ Pound Sterling cheque drawn on a UK Bank, or £ Pound Sterling notes (or your own currency notes, but please add the equivalent of £3 to cover exchange costs), via the postal system - but then you are advised to use secure registered post or your local equivalent.

Regards to all IV1IKE SIVIITH

Newsletter 98.3 Website: www.stickinsect.org.uk The PSG - Where Did It All Start?

What is your PSG Membership number? .Mine is 1973. Well, it started over 20 years ago, with only 10 members! Currently we are reaching the 3000 membership No mark - what a lot of people have passed through our books. In its hey-day. the PSG had around 1,000 current members; but with competition from other clubs, and especially the internet, we now have less than 300 members. But still quite an achievement, all things considered. 1 often cross paths with ex-PSG members, and invariably they say how much they enjoyed being a member and that they would like to join again. Some even do. But have you ever wondered how it all began? Where did the PSG come from? It was Sally Ewen that asked me this question and, intrigued, 1 asked Judith Marshall, and Judith then asked Tony James. We now have the privilege of hearing this fascinating story from Tony James himself - PSG Member No 1. A nicer chap you could not hope to meet, and we all owe many thanks to our enthusiastic founder for helping to make today's PSG possible. ;

Included in the following article are details and pictures of prominent PSG members from their younger days. 1 hope they are not offended or embarrassed by this; but the article would not have been complete without giving due credit to the early pioneers of our excellent group. And 1 now have the honour or recording it for posterity in this PSG Newsletter. Mike Smith.

THE P.S.G. - HOW IT ALL STARTED by TONY JAMES

A few months ago, I was asked by Judith if I could do an article about the history of the PSG so, supported by looking back through my records and the old Newsletters, here is how it all started

I've always been interested in animals from a very early age. Playing in our small garden, I became interested in butterflies, moths, and caterpillars from around 9 years of age. A few years later, I discovered "The Butterfly Farm" owned by L.H.Newman in Bexley,

Kent (not too far from where Ian Abercrombie lives). Whenever 1 possible, I started saving up pocket and birthday money to buy set insects and various caterpillars and pupae of many British species of Moths and Butterflies to rear (in those days, 10 shillings [50p new money], if you could save it, would buy a lot of insects!).

In one of the regular catalogues, I saw something new, stick insects for sale (I now know they were Carausius morosus), and having been fascinated when seeing them in cages in zoos previously, I bought six of them for about 1/6d (about 7.5p now). As they grew, 5 died for various reasons, one by one. I think mainly that it was because we lived in the large city of Cardiff at the time, and Privet was difficult to find, especially in winter. I may have given them anything I could find, and the last nymph got lucky and grew to full size and became known as "Charlie". "He" lived in my small Lepidoptera breeding cage, and finally died after a number of months, but at the time I didn't know that the small round objects in amongst the frass were its eggs, and that "he" would have best been called "Charlotte"!

There were many other interesting butterflies and moths to breed, so I returned to my prime interest, studying families of Lepidoptera, even as I reached my working life. I moved to Cornwall in 1966, met Pat, and got married in 1969. For a while, my attention was taken more with household matters, but interest was again revived by a chance occurrence.

On a trip to see my sister in Dorset in 1978, we passed a new venture starting up by Robert Goodern, "Worldwide Butterflies" near Yeovil. The attraction was too great, so we went in to see what they had, and I registered on their catalogue mailing list. I was fascinated, as in their catalogue they listed not one species of stick-insect, but nine rather interesting looking species, and my memories of "Charlie" lead me to buy eggs of Sipyloidea sipylus, Extatosoma tiaratum, and Bacillus gallicus (which was later found to be B.rossius). The eggs hatched and as the nymphs grew, a new large breeding cage was made, and the three species grew happily on Bramble, laid eggs (I now knew what the eggs looked like!), and created a surplus which I sold for a few months under the name of "Insect World". My prices were very low, and although I supplied people and schools to begin with, I quickly gave up trading and became pen friends with many of my earlier "customers". Through this time I had received many letters asking for guidance how to breed them, as there was then no information for beginners to refer to.

In late 1979, a group of us began discussing ways to record and pass on rearing information and help each other, and as we were studying "Phasmids", I suggested we form an active Group, which could be called the "Phasmid Study Group". Ten of us started it off in January 1980 (myself, Charles Woolman, Michael Lazenby,

Newsletter 98.4 Website: www.stickinsect.org.uk Jim Ashby, Jose Hall, Margaret Manning, Elizabeth Wraige, Sidney Blunt, Bill Coles, and Jason Paige). We decided to have 6 Newsletters per year, where we could regularly pass on information as we came across it. (We shall stick with 4 these days - editor.) We also decided to cover a species in depth with each issue, assuming that new information would come along for new species before we ran out of subjects. This was also the time when the first low-cost practical Stick Insect book arrived on the scene written by John T Clark (I still ""* "~ "' " have my copy), with 9 species described, and notes on rearing them. Although only containing line drawings of the adult species, it was at least a start in providing a reference and we thought, as the PSG, that Stick find Leaf we could build on what was there. John later changed his name to John Sellick and also joined us as PSG member no. 48. Through his Insects book, I learnt of a Mrs. Judith Marshall in the Entomology Dept. at the J.TQark British Natural History Museum, and arranged to go and see her on one of my few visits to London.

I got a chance to look at the amazingly wide diversity of Phasmids in the national collection, and described to Judith what our newly formed group, the PSG, was attempting to set up. She was interested in what we were trying to do, and showed me two species she had in culture there at the time; Phibalosoma phyllinum from Brazil (which became PSG No. 11); and what became generally known as the West Indian "Warty" species (now PSG No. 17). Although initially Judith was against passing out these species in case dealers got hold of them, I pointed out to her that there were lots of enthusiasts who would love to see and rear them, particularly thinking of the rest of the current PSG membership. There was also a possibility that with only one person keeping them, a mistake in rearing a species could be made (all too easy, even for experienced breeders), and a fascinating culture lost. Having heard that our new group was keen to make species freely available to members on a non-commercial basis, Judith gave me some nymphs of her two species.

I felt really delighted when Judith, within a few weeks, joined our group as member No. 13 (lucky for us!!) and has since supported us to present day. Later on, at one of our meetings, I found out that she had lost her P. phyllinum culture. I was able to tell her I still had a culture from her first nymphs, so was able to give her some back. This graphically supported my original arguments against individuals keeping species from being circulated, and that culture continued then for many years afterwards.

The PSG started with a membership cost of 60p a year plus 6 stamped addressed envelopes. This was just to cover the cost of Newsletter production and distribution, and the first issue was sent out at the end of February/early March 1980 with a new line-drawing logo based on an adult Sipyloidea sipylus, which became our symbol for a number of years.

Tony James, "RivenJnlo" ,Carr.kio, Wer.dron, He 1:? ton, Cora wui 1, *Ti 13 uE?«

"** Tel Stlthiana (020*) aeooj;

11,zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA t hi s i s i t , t he f i r s t of our Gr oup' s newsletters , al t hough t he i ni t i al number i n t he Cr oup i s s nai l ( 10 t hi ° moment ) , I hope t hat as wor d s pr eads we wi l l r each as wezyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA r o al ong. Then!k you ni l f or j oi ni ng me i n t hi s vent ur e, and I hope t hat you wi l l f i nd i t interesting and stimulating as wel l as d i r ect l y of s ome us e t o you. Al s o, i f you know of anyone el s e who may he interested, pl eas e s how t hem our l et t er s and. t r y t o encour age m emb er s hi p s 0 t hat we can pet t he wi des t var i et y of exchanges and t opi cs *

This is the header, and first paragraph, of the very first PSG Newsletter, in 1980!

Newsletter 98.5 Website: www.stickinsect.org.uk The "selected species" part of our Newsletter was to include taxonomic as well as species breeding information in the form of the last two pages, and including everything members had found out about it. As it was the last paper page in the Newsletter, it was planned that it be removed for filing to make up a combined reference as the notes grew, but generally, there were so many useful bits in the Newsletters, that I suspect this didn't happen. Newsletters were typed out by hand on a small travelling typewriter I had (no computers available in those days!), and copied free of charge where I worked. This allowed us to accumulate the membership fees to make up a working fund for the increasing Group. Word began spreading, and members joined steadily, increasing our membership with many of the now well-known names appearing.

On the next pages is a selection of pictures from the first PSG Exhibition at the 1982 Midlands Entomological Fair, Leicester. You will recognise some younger versions of our current Officers there! Also, it is thought that Vernon Bayliss became the youngest PSG member for a while. He kept his family hanging round longer than they wanted to as he wanted so much to meet the "celebrity" Judith, and she arrived later in the day. I think that Alan Gange became an Officer at some time later on, but can't remember his role. (Incidentally, the numbers after the names are the PSG Membership Numbers - not the ages).

Paul Watts (No. 19) joined us in April 1980, and identified a new role needed for our Group. He Vernon Bayliss (15) Bob Osborne (22) Les Fox (50) Alan Gange (17) volunteered and became our first Livestock Coordinator, handling requests for species within the Group for two years. It was a good move, and the Livestock Coordinator has been an important role in the PSG ever since. As the number of species available also was slowly increasing, and particularly some had no identification, we decided to adopt a PSG numbering system to help referencing culture material. This also overcame the "discussion problems" between our Taxonomic Experts when they couldn't decide the correct name for a species, as it gave something constant for the rest of us to refer to the species by. Although not still ideal, it has continued to present day, with the number of culture species attempted by our members, since starting, now reaching over 200. Our first year also produced our lip first international llll ' member in the form of Ulf Carlberg (No.28) in Sweden.

On 21st June, a number of us attended the Entomological Livestock Group's A.G.M. at the Botanical Gardens in Birmingham. We were allowed to have a table in their public display area (as we were also members of the ELG at that time), and to advertise the PSG with a large display cage John Sellick (48) Alan Gange (17) Bob Osborne (22) Paul Brock (26) containing a variety

Newsletter 98.6 Website: www.stickinsect.org.uk of live Phasmids, and various bits and pieces about our Group. This was the first event our Group had taken part in publicly, and a steady stream of entomologists showed lots of interest in our insects, so new members soon began joining. The ELG kindly allowed us to use part of their display area for a number of subsequent events in the Birmingham and Leicester area which produced many more members for us over the following years. Another advertising opportunity for our Group occurred in the autumn with the Amateur Entomologists Society Exhibition around the London area, the first being attended within London, but others in subsequent years were held outside, at Hounslow. In one of these events, our members were so numerous that accesses were being blocked, to the irritation of some dealers allocated positions next to us.

The Group went from strength to strength, and after a year of activity, our membership reached 45 with our second European member, Didier Mottaz in Paul Brock (26) Judith Marshall (13) John Sellick (48) Switzerland. By the end of 1982, membership had increased to 98 and showed no sign of slowing down. As the only de-facto "officer" I was gradually reaching overload, trying to produce Newsletters, packing & mailing them all, keeping records, as well as answering many letters & queries from members, so it quickly became obvious that we would need a committee to cope with the heightening activities and interest. With the popularity of meeting in London seen "previously, it was decided that we needed to hold a purely PSG meeting there to elect some officers to spread the load, and Judith kindly arranged for us to use one of the rooms at the Natural History Museum. This was our first AGM, and a real privilege and "Mecca" for our members, which has become a regular event each year ever since.

At this meeting, a number of "new officers were elected. Judith became our Chairman, Paul Brock (No.26) our Membership Secretary & Treasurer, Bob Osborne (No.22) became our new Livestock Coordinator as Paul Watts was finding it difficult to cu'ntinue. Michael Lazenby & Frances Holloway (No.3) took on the extensive task of "answering queries and building up our Culture Register (which later became x>ur Species List), and Dave Robinson, originally from Edinburgh University, became xiur Librarian. At this time, I cuirtinued as Editor, and a newniernber, who became a valuable resource for our group was Peter Curry (No.91) who worked in the Bob Osborne (22) P.S.G. Display Cage Newsletter 98.7 Website: www.stickinsect.org.uk London Education Authority at the Centre for Life Studies attached to London Zoo. He volunteered to do the Newsletter copying and dispatch for us using the Centre's publishing system, and for a number of years we were able to use the Centre as a new meeting place which was a veritable Zoological Aladdin's Cave for Summer Meetings. As the Centre was a Teacher's Training & Resource area, we had the use of a large reference library of Natural History books in an upstairs lounge, whilst downstairs in the Laboratories, you could never be sure what you would find, with an always changing animal population. I spent many an interesting evening there visiting Peter, sometimes playing hide & seek with an escaped Chinchilla (Well, how keen would you be to grab it if you don't know whether it bites??), searching for newly hatched escaped Pythons, or feeding all sorts of John Sellick (48) Les Fox (50) Alan Gange (17) Bob Osborne (22) other animals which were there from time to time. Sadly, the Centre closed a few years later, due to education cut-backs, so after a few trials elsewhere; our Summer meetings also followed our AGM's and were held at the Museum from then on.

Unfortunately, my work continued to make inroads on my spare time, so in 1983 I finally had to give up involvement for a number of years, with the Editorship coming under a number of new Editors to present day. All of these have added their own style to our medium of communications, and it grew from the original 4 and 6 side publication to a small booklet with covers. At least I left with the knowledge that there was a good team running the Group, and with an increasing number of members there were always additional hands prepared to take up the various roles needed. As time went by, I still kept in touch with my many friends within the Group, never losing the interest, and over the years many of our own new species were successfully cultured. These have found their way into the PSG list via my close friend Allan Harman, one of the first Phasmid collectors to return culture species and collection specimens to the BMNH. It was Allan who finally persuaded me to rejoin the fold, especially as I now had a bit more time available.

I have a great feeling of pride in this Group, as it combined both amateur and professional entomologists all working together to further the study of stick insects. A small nucleus of our members followed in Allan's worldwide —— "~~"~~~~\, and have been furthering our knowledge by studying species in the wild and collecting specimens for culture (some actually new to science!), as I and my wife have also been doing at every opportunity. A number of members have written authoritative and beautifully illustrated books, which including photographs and drawings of many beautiful and interesting species. Others are now revising our knowledge on the early works of taxonomy of Phasmidae, and bringing it up to date based on our broader understanding resulting from breeding studies.

It has generally been more of a success than anything I would have hoped for. I can only hope that it will continue for many more years encouraging new enthusiasts to follow in our footsteps.

CAN YO HELP? Wow! I found this article absolutely fascinating, and I hope you did too. I'd be very interested in other PSG pioneering stories, pictures of early shows, etc, for publishing in future Newsletters. If vou think vou can helo. Dlease contact me. Editor.

Newsletter 98.8 Website: www.stickinsect.org.uk The Stick Talk list has had some recent changes made, including a new e-mail address. It is totally independent of the PSG, though many Stick Talk list members are also it z: i< members of the PSG. If you want to join the list, e-mail: [email protected] It's totally free of charge; and if you do not like it, just send an e-mail asking to be taken off the list. It is also moderated so it's secure, safe from abusive language, and there will be no By IVlike Smith spam. As a Stick Talk list member, you could receive two or more e-mails a day, but usually quite short. Typical issues raised are in the following short extracts - enjoy.

PHARNACIA Sorry but I haven't contributed much to recent Stick Talk e- mails. I've been quite busy at work, though as of next week I should be able to get to a computer more often. Anyway, just wanted to share with you my pic of my male Phamacia (anybody got a female that I could pair him with?). Sally

JUST COLLECTING BRAMBLE? I believe we've all had experiences collecting food for our critters (good and bad). Usually I just get asked what I'm doing. Being hip-deep in a blackberry patch isn't strange when the berries are in season but people certainly wonder about you in the middle of winter when it is dark, pouring rain or snowing. My experiences include: being sniffed by a bear (luckily he was a black bear, much smaller than a grizzly, and was well- fed from the salmon run. I made a note to not collect by a river during a salmon run!), finding human skeletal remains in the forest (I'm thankful for cell phones, otherwise I would have run screaming out of the forest. The police questioned me for a VERY long time), and finding someone sleeping in the middle of a forest (unfortunately, this happened only weeks after the skeleton incident so I thought the poor guy was dead. I think I scared him silly when he moved and I screamed. Imagine the poor fellow - sleeping comfortably and then waking to a screaming woman holding hedge clippers and wearing thick gloves! I think he believed I was a murderer! He certainly ran off quick enough! I never got a chance to apologize!) Hopefully, I can keep my terrorizing of the local population under control from now on! Shelly.

THE NEWARK SHOW The show was extremely tiring but then they always are, but the satisfaction at the end of the day is so much of a recompense for that!! I brought quite a few sticks to show people and as with Mike I was asked many times if they were for sale some yes but most no as they were only for show anyway. I had a Christmas tree (small) on the table next to my sticks with little flashing lights on it to provide a Christmassy feel to the display. One very nice lady picked it up and nearly had a heart attack when one of the decorations moved. Yes you guessed it, a male Eurycantha nymph had crawled onto the little tree, it was relaxing for a bit from his being shown to everyone, and when she touched him he naturally moved. Well it introduced the lady to sticks that's for sure. We all had a good laugh about it and she went away feeling sticks

t ^ weren't that creepy after all. I also met the gentleman who does the PSG web pages [Paul Taylor], and we had a nice chat to Tracey, Mikes daughter, who I would like to say is as lovely as her dad is. (Blush, blush. Editor). The kids who came round were great apart from one who almost pinched one of my P khaynosis in half; I was on the phone at the time and was only just able to stop her. On the whole though the children were very well behaved - and the adults, well they were as well lol. Highlight of the day?? Meeting Mikey at long last. Rev Joy ["lol" = laugh out loud, editor].

WHAT IS IT? I have attached a picture of it to this email in the hope that somebody from the Group can identify it (e.g. what PSG number it is?). Also, I would like to find out if its a male or a female. Since I have only one animal, I am hoping that it is a female and is capable of parthogenesis thereby laying some viable eggs which I plan to share with the Group if possible. Ben.

Newsletter 98.9 Website: www.stickinsect.org.uk YOGA FOR STICK INSECTS My wife attends Yoga classes once a week. Yesterday she was in the middle of a finely-balanced position (which involved looking toward the floor) when she spotted.... an almost-adult Carausius morosus (Indian) joining in - lifting alternate legs and swaying gently side to side! Hoping no-one else had spotted the interloper; she discretely scooped it up and into her sports-bag, popping a coat over the top. At the end of the lesson, she found it neatly tucked into a seam of the bag, and she transferred it to the safety of the inside of her rolled-up yoga mat. We have to assume that this was not a "local" stick insect, but had hitched a ride on her clothing, as she had cleaned them out a couple of hours earlier. Though a lot slower moving than most of our species, the Indians seem to have an urge to travel - they've turned up in the middle of meetings at the office, and went with the family on a three-week camping holiday over the summer! (Found on the 3rd day, it was transferred to a jam jar and caused much interest to fellow campers at sites across southern England!). When my in-laws had looked after our sticks for a week during an earlier holiday, one turned up several weeks later happily munching (and growing) on a houseplant. Just goes to show how easy escapes can be, and why the authorities in some places take a pretty hard line on sticks - escapees in the wild won't survive in this part of the UK, but elsewhere... Derek

HETEROPTERYX DILATATA These little guys are just playing, they're not the victims of mistreatment and no H.D.s were harmed during the making of these pictures!! Adam

FRAMING STICKS I have used the method you refer to on an ET female when she died. It was rather disgusting to do but I was pleased with the results. I put some napthalene flakes inside with the cotton fibre to help preserve it and avoid destruction by pests. I did mine in a frame with some leaves under it rather than just preserved as a scientific specimen so I cheated and used a little acrylic paint to improve the colour of the f body once it dried out., and also on the / leaves when they dried. Ben.

Seeing as everyone is showing off their sticks i thought i'd share a couple of my Jungle nymph pics with you all They are both of my most aggressive female. Although she has shed twice since those pics. Matt.

These items are typical of the sort of subjects covered in Stick Talk. I hope you found them interesting. If you have any of your own comments on these or other matters, please send them in to me for inclusion in the next Newsletter

I C >< >I> FOR THOUGHT by RachaelMarriott

I have made another discovery to do with another one of my stick insects, which is PSG23, Eurycantha calcarata. I have discovered that PSG23 will eat a plant called caenthus. To start with they were fed on ivy, because of winter, but then I wanted to try them on something different, so I put a piece of caenthus in their tank, together with the ivy, and the next day I found that they had eaten it, so they must have liked it. When spring comes I will feed them bramble again, until winter next year. I have tried feeding them on holly and laurel leaves as well.

Thanks for this Rachael, how did you get on with the holly and laurel? I assume they found the holly leaves a bit tough. Though I must say I find Eurycantha are willing to eat many things. During one emergency I fed them a piece of lettuce - and they even ate that!

Newsletter 98.10 Website: www.stickinsect.org.uk A French Documentary Dedicated To The Stick Insects: "C'est Pas Sorcier " By Emmanuel Delfosse

"Face aux Phasmes, de droles d'Insectes" (Facing the Phasmids, some funny bugs") has been broadcast October 7, 2001 for the third time and rebroadcast since time and again (at least 4 times!) on channel 3 (FR3) in France. Who knows, it may even find its way onto British television one year! It is about a 20 minute documentary of the excellent French scientific series "C'est pas Sorcier" ("That is not wizard"). It is a broadcast to particularly interest children but the films are so interesting and rich that adults can also enjoy watching then. This scientific series concerns everything that surrounds us; wide ranging subjects such as the working of a car, to the biology of a snake. Whilst sometimes child-like games are used to illustrate facts, and it can include errors, we can forgive the documentary makers.

The documentary film makers contacted me at the National Museum of Natural History of Paris (Grande Galerie de ['Evolution), desperately searching for information on phasmids. I offered them my assistance, and provided scientific literature or commentary and suggested enthusiasts in France, such as the Bauduin brothers, whose culture stocks are remarkable, Bruno Biron and his small family (whose Internet page is representative of the knowledge and interest he has on phasmids), Philippe Lelong, a specialist on stick insects, especially French and West Indies phasmids, and some others that they were not seen for lack of time (including Kristien Rabaey in Belgium, for example).

The documentary is therefore representative of the individuals contacted. We have the opportunity to admire various stick insects including: Extatosoma tiaratum, Medanroidea extradentatum, Clonopsis gallica, Bacillus rossius, Leptynia hispanica, Phyllium biocvlatiim, Phyllium giganteum, Heteropteryx dilatata, Phaenopharos Struthioneus, Aretaon asperrinnis, Oreophoetes peruana, Rhaphiderits spinigerus, Anisomorpha paromala, Phobaeticus serratipes, Eurycantha calcarata, various Ramulus, Phyllium, Haaniella, Medaura, Pharmacia, and many others. The rearing advice is welcome, because this is unusual in the majority of the documentaries seen, but to say that a "small stick insect is a lot less fragile" seems me a little light as commentary!

The stick insects of France are also shown, including their distribution, and collecting methods (including a night "hunt"). Defensive mechanisms of stick insects are shown: catalepsy, autotomy (and subsequent regeneration), mimetic and stridulating capacity and toxic substances. With regard to defensive sprays, Anisomorpha paromala is described as the "most dangerous "gas Phasmid! Anisomorpha buprestoides has got a defensive spray more effective, it tickles the mucous membranes a little, but to say that these are dangerous stick insects, it is to exaggerate.

Some models show the bodily structure of a stick insect, its postembryonic development, and capacity to change colour (less in some species), the digestion, as well as the breathing. The fact that eggs resemble seeds is not forgotten as well as the astonishing ability of some stick insects to reproduce by parthenogenesis.

One of my Lizards makes the headline - a male Eublepharis macularius that eats a stick insect {Medauroidea extradentatum)... But the reptile comes from Afghanistan (also found in Pakistan and northwest India) and lives in semi- arid zones vvhereas the stick insect is from hot, humid forest in Vietnam.

Despite the wide knowledge of people contacted, some mistakes have crept in, for example, Heteropteryx dilatata is first mentioned as an American stick insect whereas it is from Malaysia. However, later on in the documentary, the correct origin is mentioned.

This professional documentary has more than enough coverage to interest all phasmid enthusiasts.

Ackowledgements I want to thank a lot Paul Brock for his kindness, his suggestions and corrections.

Newsletter 98.11 Website: www.stickinsect.org.uk e Newark Show by Mike Smith •

Sunday, 14 December 2003, 10am-4pm, Balderton, Newark. This show was completely new, so I was unsure of how well it would fare. The organiser, Paul Holt was very enthusiastic, and told me how his arrangements were progressing and how well the stalls were selling, etc. But it was his first show, so it could have been a damp squid. Rev Joy had a stall there, so I decided to join her with a PSG stall with my daughter Tracey. wmmmmmsimmmmmmmmmmzyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA& jmmL: -i I was genuinely surprised at how well the show was done, it was like attending a well established show, and every bit as good as Kettering. I met lots of old friends and acquaintances, but in particular I at last met the mighty Rev Joy and her hubby Richard. Joy is every bit as lovely in real life as you could possibly hope for! And she got on like a house on fire with Tracey.

I had loads of visitors to the PSG stall, many were Joe Public looking in after a swim or a workout in the gym (it was held in a sports centre), so there were lots of basic questions, and "can I hold oije", and "Yuk, they are horrible".

Joy was selling her excellent stick-craft wares quicker than hot cakes. And they looked much better in real life than the pictures on the internet. Tracey and I bought some of them too. I also bought a few other things, Egyptian, African, and European scorpions for a start. Though there were lots of sticks for sale, and at reasonable prices. In fact the question I was asked most frequently was "How much are you selling your sticks for?" - but they were definitely not for sale!

Paul Holt found the show went so well, with over 350 visitors, that he plans to hold it twice yearly. So we now have more excellent shows to add to our annual show calendar. Sunday, 13th June, and again Sunday 12th December, 12am-4pm, Balderton, Newark (off the A1). (Contact for show tables or information: Paul Holt, 01636 674723).

Rev Joy plans to hold her stick craft stall there, and the PSG will probably have a stall there too. If you are able to assist with the PSG stall, please contact me.

Newsletter 98.12 Website: www.stickinsect.org.uk Building Your mm Cage Cameron Die Konigin At the January PSG meeting this year I gave a talk on how I make my own phasmid cages, and Mike Smith the newsletter editor, asked me if I could write an article for the PSG newsletter based on the talk. The following article is the result. This article contains a few more additional points and I have also listed some of the suppliers from where I get my materials from, as quite a few PSG members were asking for these after the talk.

Although I use a variety of cages for housing my insects to suit their various needs, the talk and therefore this article is based on one particular design that I make, which I find suitable for most phasmid species - those that require light airy conditions.

My design is produced to my preferred specifications and therefore may not suit everyone, but I have found that it is very adaptable and you could easily alter it to suit your own needs.

The original design was not one of my own making, but as is often the case with many ideas, is based on the cages I saw in the collection of Ian Bushell. Ian had asked me to look after his phasmid collection whilst he was on holiday and I was so impressed with his home made cages, I decided to make my own.

This cage design (lightweight and flat based) allows for one to be stacked upon another and I happily stack then four cages high, thus maximizing on space.

Materials The basic materials used are: Wood The wood is for both the base on which the cage is built (and this can be MDF/plywood) and also for the actual frame of the cage itself. Wood is cheap and easy to get hold of, can easily be cut to suit any size or shape required and also be painted either with varnish or paint, if required.

The upright batons, which make the frame of the cage, are bought as long strips and I get a friendly carpenter to cut them down into suitable widths, unless you find some batons that already suit the size you require. They are usually cut to 1" by 1" and how ever long you require them. For fixing two pieces of wood together I first add suitable wood adhesive and then nail them together to provide a strong bond.

Because my finished cages are painted white, I tend to give all the wood a couple of coats of undercoat at this early stage when it is not so fiddly. The topcoat is applied at various appropriate stages.

Mesh for covering the wooden frame The mesh can be either plastic or metal and I find them equally as strong although the plastic mesh is considerably cheaper. I prefer metal, as it does look a lot neater and in the case with my own cages, aluminum mesh, as it is light yet does not rust when it gets wet. Both the plastic and the metal mesh are easily cut with a pair of scissors, so no specialist equipment is needed.

The mesh allows for good ventilation, and also provides for extra climbing surfaces whereas in glass tanks (which I used to house my insects in), the insects only had the food plants themselves to climb on.

The wire I purchase from a local art shop (see 'suppliers' at the end) and is sold as sculpting mesh. It is easy to cut to shape with a pair of scissors.

When using mesh, remember the size of the smallest insect you wish to keep in the tank and ensure that the mesh perforations are smaller so that they cannot escape!

Perspex The clear door front is made from Perspex. This allows for easy visibility into the cages and can easily be kept nice and .clean just by wiping with a damp cloth. It is also lightweight, easy to acquire from any hardware outlet and is pretty inexpensive.

Sealant I am not a good carpenter, so having built the cage, I go over and seal up any gaps and holes with a suitable sealant. I use decorator's caulk, available from most DIY stores. The purpose of this is to fill in any gaps where any droppings may otherwise get caught and therefore possibly Paint I contribute to disease. It also gives a really nice smooth finish to the completed cage.

Newsletter 98.13 Paint Paint is much safer to use now than in the past, when the ingredients could be quite poisonous, so I happily paint my cages white. It gives it a nice clean finish and it can be wiped down with a damp cloth when needed. I simply follow the instructions on the tin and allow a couple of extra days before putting any insects in to the painted cage to ensure that there are no fumes. Diagram 1

Hinges & fasteners for the door I prefer brass hinges, simply because they are cheap to get hold of (about 50p for two) and they do not rust should they get wet when you are spraying your insects or when cleaning the cages. As for the fasteners, again I use brass for the same cost and are simply an eye and a hook that are screwed into the wood.

Cork floor tile To finish off the cage I cut to fit and glue a cork floor tile to the base. This has the advantage, that if there any nails protruding from the bottom, they are covered up so preventing the cage from scratching any surface you may stand it on. It also gives it a nice finish.

Tools that I have found very useful to have to hand are tape measure/ruler, saw, Stanley knife, hammer, staple gun, paintbrush, and a drill (either electric or a hand drill) for fixing on the hinges. Diagram 2 Building the cage All right, those are the requirements; I will show you now how I put them all together.

The body of the cage Begin with the base, either a wood or MDF sheet and I usually keep this square to make measuring easier. An ideal size is 18" by 18". I- Four long batons (usually 18" 45cm long) of wood are then nailed to the base, one on each corner (Diagram 1). ry.'

These create four supporting uprights. Between each of these upright pieces of wood I then add the horizontal pieces, (Diagram 2), one the base and one on the top.

Once this basic frame has been completed, there can often be small gaps between the joints and so to seal these up, I use the decorator's caulk. Follow the instructions and go over the whole cage filling any spaces and allow it to dry. Diagram 3

After the caulk has dried but before adding the mesh, I apply the top coat of paint and allow the frame to dry for a few days. I have not had any issues with paint toxicity with the insects; even so always ensure that a painted cage is thoroughly dry before any insects are added.

Once the paint has dried, I fix on the mesh. I cut a piece for each side and, using a staple gun, attach it (Diagram 3). If you use metal mesh, go careful with the cut edges as they can be very sharp and can cut into your fingers.

Having fixed on the mesh, I now apply a strip of the decorator's caulk around the bottom of the cage where the wire meets the wood. This is because material such as droppings can fall down between the gap where the two meet. By applying the caulk, the droppings now roll into the bottom of the cage where they can be picked up when cleaning. Diagram 4 Groove Once this has dried, I go over this decorators caulk with a coat of paint and then glue on the cork tile base with PVA adhesive. The basic cage is now complete. All there is left is to make and attach the door.

Making the door The door is made from the same baton as the framework for the cage, except that the wood has a groove into which the Perspex will fit, once the door is complete (Diagram 4).

I cut four pieces, two for the sides and one for the top and one on the bottom, the measurements of which I take from the cage itself to get a perfect fit. Once cut, give them a coat of paint, as painting at this point is much easier than with the finished door.

I then fix the bottom strip to one of the sidepieces and the top piece to the other sidepiece resulting in two' L' shaped pieces (Diagram 5). Diagram 5

The Perspex is then cut by repeatedly scoring, using a sharp Stanley knife and a metal ruler, and once cut, any sharp edges can be sandpapered if needed. Once the Perspex is cut take the two 'L' shaped pieces and fit them around it (Diagram 5), the Perspex slotting into the groove that has been Newsletter 98.14 Website: www.stickinsect.org.uk cut into the wood. Once I am happy, I glue and nail all the pieces of wood together and once dry, seal up the join between the Perspex and the frame with sealant so as to close any gaps.

The final stage is to give the whole door a final coat of paint, where required. Diagram 6 4 Attaching the door to the frame On an 18" high cage I use two hinges to attach the door, and this seems to be sufficient, the screws for the hinges going through the wire on one side and the door catch therefore going on the opposing side (Diagram 6). The door should close and fit up against the body of the cage without any gaps between the two for any insects to escape. However, if like me you are not an accomplished carpenter, there can be the occasional gap between the body of the cage and the door through which insects can escape. Any easy way to remedy this is to use strips of draught excluder, attached either to the inside of the door or cage, and this will successfully seal up these gaps. Diagram 7 Before I add the insects, I use a liner for the bottom of the cage, which is normally plain white kitchen roll. The advantage of this is when cleaning out the cage. I simply remove the insects and old food plant, and then lift out the liner holding the droppings and everything else in one swift movement. The kitchen roll liner will also absorb excess moisture that may get spilled in the cage. Once the liner is in place I add the insects.

Cleaning the cages. Every couple of months I like to give the cages a clean and for this I usually use a mild bleach solution and simply wipe down all the surfaces. For the Perspex front I use standard glass cleaner and a soft cloth. Once done, ensure the cage is thoroughly dry before putting the insects back in.

Other cage suggestions Since building my original cages along the design that I have just covered, Ian and I have come up with some other improvements on this, some of which Ian has implemented.

1. By leaving a gap in the front horizontal baton, instead of lifting up all the debris on the tissue lining, this would allow you to sweep out the debris instead and possibly making the job of cleaning out much easier (Diagram 7)

2. One small problem that can occur is droppings falling through the gap between the door and the body of the cage and generally making a mess unless you regularly clean up. By having a ledge running under the door (Diagram 8), this would solve this problem, keeping all the droppings within the cage floor. This can be achieved by making the base slightly larger than the frame.

3. To build a much larger cage to house larger insects. I simply increase all the dimensions of the wooden batons used to the desired height or width and, if necessary, putting in extra supports to give the cage strength (Diagram 9).

4. To allow for better ventilation between stacked cages, fix on small legs on to the base of the cage. This will generate airflow between the top of lower cage and the bottom of the upper cage (Diagram 10).

5. An easy way to increase humidity within the cage is to fix cling film to the exterior., covering as many of the mesh covered slides as you wish. Being on the outside, the insects can still benefit from the extra climbing surfaces provided by the mesh.

Suppliers Although all of the materials I have used are readily available, when I gave the talk at the PSG meeting, some members asked after specific outlets. Below I have listed the outlets that I use Diagram 10 to source my materials. I would strongly advise for you to shop around your local DIY stores and garden centres to get the cheapest prices.

Wooden batons/MDF - any of the DIY stores (Wickes, B&Q, Home Base etc.) will supply your needs and if you think you will make quite a few cages, then it is worth buying the larger packs.

Plastic mesh - The mesh I have used is sold as plastic greenhouse shading and is usually cut from a huge roll to the length that you need. Garden centres and hardware stores will sell the plastic mesh and it usually costs £1.50 - £2 per metre.

Newsletter 98.15 Website: www.stickinsect.org.uk Metal mesh - is ordered from a local art shop and costs £22.50 for a 20 inch by 10-foot roll. I have contacted the art shop and if you wish to purchase over the phone they will happily do so, charging extra for the postage costs. The product is Aluminium Contour Mesh, product code 8051 and is from; The Alms House, 20 Silver Street, Trowbridge, Wiltshire, BA14 8AE, Telephone 01225 776 329.

Perspex - any of the DIY stores (Wickes, B&Q, Home Base etc.) should supply this and usually it comes in large sheets. Full instructions for cutting should come with the Perspex.

Summary I hope that the information isn't too much for you to have a go at building your own cage rather than buying them or improvising. By checking out various local DIY stores and buying inexpensively, these cages can cost less than £15 each; a fraction of what some commercially made cages can go for. From experience, once you have made your first couple, it becomes so much easier and before you know where you are, you have a whole load of hand made cages. Good luck.

Many thanks Cameron for a really interesting, and extremely useful article. I've heard great things about your talk, which unfortunately I missed, but reading this article is the next best thing. Great illustrations, by the way.

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PHASMID /PSG QXJI^, zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBAby Cameron Die Konigin Some of these questions are based on articles that appeared in the previous newsletter - hope you have been reading them!

1. What country does Eurycnema osiris come from? 2. What is a capitulum? 3. What sub family does Anisomorpha belong to? 4. What genus does the food plant privet belong to? 5. What are, in insect anatomy, spiracles? 6. Currently, how many species fall into the genus, Eurycnema? 7. What is this phasmid? It is found and named after a South American country; it feeds on pteridophytes and both sexes display classic insect warning colouration. 8. What colour wings do the following species have; Phaenopharos khaoyaiensis Aplopus jamaicensis Pseudophasma acanthonata 9. Which of the two sexes, male or female, is the larger in Eurycnema goliath? 10. Where would you find the coxa? 11. A new introduced species of phasmid has been identified on the Scilly Islands, UK. What is this species? 12. Eurycantha insularis (syn. coriacea) is native to where? 13. When a species' scientific name is written down correctly, it should have a person's surname attached to the end of it. What does this name mean? 14. Hoploclonia abercrombiei-who is this species named after? 15. Phasmids are insects; therefore they all have how many legs? 16. Chondrostethus woodfordii, as well as eating blackberry also eats another type of plant that is eaten by very few other stick insect species. As it so happens this other type of food plant is eaten by another stick insect mentioned in this quiz. What is the food plant? 17. Diapherodes jamaicensis is the old name for what species? 18. Which of the seven continents does not have any native species of phasmid? 19. What is the genus Phobaeticus well known for? 20. The elytra and a/ae are better known as what?

Thanks for another excellent quiz. Answers are on page 25. Newsletter 98.16 Website: www.stickinsect.org.uk Photographing Phasmids (Using a Compact Digital Camera)

By Sally L. Ewen

Insect photography is one of my greatest passions. This all started in April 2003 when I bought my first (digital) camera - a Nikon Coolpix 990 - having decided that I would like to create a permanent record of my phasmid collection.

My initial attempts at photographing stick insects were unfortunately a little disappointing - the light was too harsh, the backgrounds looked artificial, and the wrong parts of the insect were in focus. I have since been practicing and reading up on the subject and, one year later, am capable of taking photographs that I am proud of. I am constantly learning and have a long way to go Figure 1: Heteropteryx dilatata female until I take 'professional' looking images; nonetheless I shall attempt to (Winner of PSG picture competition) write here an introduction to phasmid photography.

This article concentrates on photography using a digital camera. However am by no means saying that digital cameras are better than traditional cameras, or vice versa; it is simply that I feel qualified only to discuss digital photography since I have had no serious use of a film camera. The majority of advice contained within this article should be applicable to most systems.

Photographing Phasmids Many people who rear phasmids are also keen on photographing them, and it is not difficult to understand why this is so. For a start, a photograph is a detailed record of an insect's structure, long outlasting collections of dead insects, which eventually lose their colour and vigour. Secondly, close-up photographs of insects very often reveal details that are not seen with the naked eye, such as the 'toothy grin' on the face of a male PSG 103, or the detailed pattern on the wings of Phaenopharos khaoyaiensis. Additionally, the 'stick- mimicking' instinct of phasmids lends itself very well to photography; in comparison to such active insects as butterflies or dragonflies, static stick insects really are ideal subjects.

In his book, "Close-up on Insects", Robert Thompson suggests that being a technically competent photographer is only one part of the photographic process. He says that in order to achieve successful pictures it is equally important to understand the subject. In a similar way, one can learn much about the behaviour of a particular species by patiently sitting down and photographing it. For instance, I can tell you that one species that likes to rock backwards and forth in imitation

Newsletter 98.17 Website: www.stickinsect.org.uk of rustling leaves is Extatosoma tiaratum (much to the photographer's annoyance!). The Pseudophasmatinae in particular are reluctant to stay in one place, whereas such species as PSG 144 and Heteropteryx dilatata will very willingly hold still and be manipulated into various 'poses'!

The easily recognisable structure of an insect means that silhouette-style photographs are very effective. By simply picking a large leaf (such as that of a cheese plant Monstera deliciosa), placing a stick insect on it and then illuminating it from behind, one can create very interesting images (see left).

Some photographers advocate freezing or gassing insects in order to guarantee a motionless subject; I personally am not in favour of this. I admit that I have once or twice attempted to temporarily cool down particularly active insects (such as, say, lacewings or moths), but I found that this results in a very unnatural pose.

Taking Close-up Photographs Many people believe that they are unable to take decent photographs of stick insects Figure 3: Heteropteryx dilatata on leaf because the equipment involved is too expensive, or the techniques Illuminated from behind required are too complicated. Fortunately this isn't the case.

Some compact digital cameras have a Macro Focus mode. My Nikon Coolpix 990 has a (very impressive) 2cm (0.75in) macro mode, meaning that it is able to focus on subjects as close as 2cm away from the lens. This, of course, is ideal for photographing stick insects.

Other models of digital camera are unable to focus on subjects this close, but there are fortunately ways around this. One option is to purchase something known as a close-up 'filter'. Manufactured by such companies as 'Hoya', close-up filters typically come in +1, +2 and +4 diopters. They are not at all expensive, and can be stacked together without really negating the image quality. The only disadvantage of using close-up filters is that they can result in a shallow Depth of Field (see later section). Figure 4: Carausius sp. 230 Illuminated using desk lamp Another option is to fix one or more thin magnifying glasses in front of the camera's lens. I personally have not tried this, but detailed instructions on how to do it can be found at: http://www.geocities.com/digitalsetups/.

Composition The term 'composition' refers to the general content of the photograph: that is, the subject (i.e. the stick insect), the whereabouts of the subject within the frame of the photograph, and the background. In order to take a decent photograph it is important to consider all of these factors.

First of all, let's discuss the background. I personally take all of my stick insect photographs in a makeshift 'studio', which is simply a sheet of white card resting on a coffee table with a sheet of non-reflective black card or foam core standing up as the background. The black background provides some kind of neutrality in front of which I place the phasmids and the various 'props', and the white card acts to reflect up the light (see section on "lighting"). To avoid camera shake, I rest the camera on a small (6 inch, 14.5 cm, high) plastic tripod, or sometimes just on a pile of books. Figure 5: Eurycantha sp. 1/1000sec, f/3.6, flash I then choose various "props". These are usually leaves or branches, which I select to complement the particular insect. For example, a phasmid's rainforest habitat might be imitated using houseplant leaves or exotic flowers. Mossy branches and dead leaves could be used to complement such species as the Eurycanthinae or Phenacephorus cornucervi, and thin grassy stems could be incorporated into portraits of thin Gratidia spp. Furthermore, the photographer must decide whether the

Newsletter 98.18 Website: www.stickinsect.org.uk insect is to be naturally camouflaged against its background, or whether it is to stand out and create a more eye-catching impression.

One potential problem with stick insects is that they are often too long to fit into the conventional digital or 35mm format of a standard camera. The result is that one must choose between encompassing the whole insect within the scope of the frame though with it appearing to be some distance away, and having just one section of the insect within the frame. Remember that it isn't obligatory to include the whole of the insect in your photograph, and it can be nice to opt for a close-up study of, say, the insect's compound eye or the abstract design on the hindwings of such species as Phasma gigas or the male Heteropteryx dilatata.

My final point regarding composition is that many photographs that I have seen tend to capture the insect from above, from the point of view of the 6ft tall human being. There's nothing wrong with this approach, but I find that it is often more effective to capture the insect from its own level. This way, by capturing the phasmid from an angle that humans don't normally see, the image becomes less 'clinical' and more portrait-like. A close-up of an insect's face can appear to give the insect some degree of 'character' and 'personality'.

Exposure, Aperture and Depth of Field Traditionally, the term 'exposure' refers to the amount of light hitting the negative. In digital photography this is equivalent to the amount of light falling on an electronic sensor, which is known as a CCD (Charged Couple Device). The exposure of a photograph is determined by the shutter speed, by the sensitivity of the CCD (ISO rating) and by the size of the aperture (i.e. the camera part that is comparable to the iris of the eye). If the CCD is exposed to too much light, the photograph looks rather washed-out, and is said to be 'over-exposed'. On the other hand, if the CCD is underexposed to the light, the photograph will be too dark and a lot of the detail may be lost.

The majority of digital cameras have automatic settings so that you do not have to worry about the aforementioned variables. This does, however, mean that you have no control over the image's Depth of Field (DOF), a term that refers to the areas of the photograph both in front of and behind the main focal point. You might want to have a large DOF if you are photographing a long insect front on, and would like both the head and the whole of the abdomen to be in focus. However, having a large DOF would also mean that the background is as in focus as the subject, which may result in a rather cluttered image. The photographs on the right illustrate that point.

So how do you control your photograph's DOF? The three main factors affecting DOF are: aperture size, subject distance, and focal length. Only aperture will be discussed here. In photography, the size of the aperture is given by an f-number. A small f-number (such as f/2) means that the aperture is very wide open, and this will result in a shallow DOF (i.e. anything in front of or behind the main focal point will appear blurred). Conversely, a large f-number (such as f/11) means that the aperture is very small, and this will result in a large DOF (i.e. quite a lot of what is in front of and behind the main focal point will be in focus). Note that it is generally desirable to ensure that the main focal point is the eye area; people tend to notice more when the eyes are not sharp.

On many cameras, the size of the aperture - and hence the DOF of the image - can be controlled either by putting your camera in manual mode (which enables the photographer to select both the aperture and the shutter speed), or by putting your camera in aperture-priority mode (which is where you set the aperture and the camera chooses the appropriate shutter speed). I prefer to use aperture-priority mode, and I typically select f-numbers of f/11 or f/8.

Lighting Lighting is arguably one of the most important factors to take into consideration when carrying-out close-up photography. In this discussion I shall assume that the photograph is being Figure 6: Sungaya inexpectata taken indoors (thus avoiding such potential problems as escaping insects or props blowing around in the breeze!)

Practically all digital cameras come with a built-in flash. Unfortunately this is usually not suited to close-up photography, as it can create to harsh shadows and, at such close distances, is likely to light the scene somewhat unevenly. One way around this is to use daylight through a window. Another way is to incorporate a small desk lamp. Opting for the latter set-up, it is possible to achieve different effects simply by altering the angle of the lamp and its distance from the subject. Using more than one lamp can be effective, but one

Newsletter 98.19 Website: www.stickinsect.org.uk should take care not to create two catch lights in the eyes of the insect, or to create artificially conflicting sets of shadows. One disadvantage of using desk lamps is that photographs taken under incandescent light often have a sickly yellow tint to them. However this can be eliminated through use of the camera's white balance function.

Recently I have become rather fond of using an external flash for my studio work, and fortunately I found that it isn't necessary to purchase an expensive flash unit for this purpose. What I did was purchase a small slave unit (approximately £10 from Jessops), which is an external flash that fires whenever it detects the light from the camera's built-in flash. The camera's own flash is then covered up using a small inexpensive sheet of IR filter (available from photographic retailers). The result is that when a photograph is taken, the slave light sees

~~ —~ ~~ " — ~~ the IR light from the camera's flash, yet visible light from the camera's flash is eliminated therefore not lighting up the image.

Having set this up, it now becomes possible to experiment with lighting by holding the slave unit at various angles around the subject. Vastly different effects can be achieved by lighting the stick insect from the front, from behind, from directly above or from a 45° angle above. Sometimes it is advantageous to aim the slave flash away from the subject and onto silver or white card, in this way 'bouncing' the light onto the subject to product a more subtle glow. The great thing about a digital camera is that it is possible to experiment like this without having to worry about wasting expensive film; a digital camera also enables the photographer to instantly see the resulting image and then adjust the set-up if necessary.

One small problem with using a slave as the sole source of light is that the camera has no control over the light output, and the resulting image may therefore end up a little over-exposed. Fortunately there are a number of ways around this problem:

1) One method is to put the camera into manual exposure mode, which allows the photographer to choose both the aperture size and the shutter speed, thus determining manually the amount of light hitting the CCD. 2) Another way around this problem is to use a function called "Automatic Exposure lock". AE lock isn't present on all camera models, but if your camera does have this function, you can effectively get the camera to 'memorise' the exposure settings that it has calculated for use with the built-in flash, and then switch off the built-in flash and use the same exposure settings with your slave unit. The camera's own instruction manual will explain more clearly how to do this. 3) The simplest way to prevent your slave-lit photographs from looking too harshly lit is to cover the front of the slave unit with a piece of netting or opaque paper. Holding the slave as far as one or two metres from the subject will also alleviate this problem.

Conclusion I admit that I am still a beginner to the world of insect photography; there's a lot that I don't know, and I am constantly trying to find out which techniques and approaches work best to produce the images that I desire. I would be very keen to hear what methods other PSG members use for photographing phasmids.

Nevertheless I would like to think that some people might find this article useful or even inspiring. And I'm sure that Cameron and others will back me when I say that I hope this article encourages more people to take photographs to enter into this summer's PSG competition!

Book recommendation: Two fantastic websites about digital photography:

Close-up on Insects: A Photographers' Guide www.dpreview.com By Robert Thompson ISBN 1 86108 238 X http://azone.clubsnap.org/home/

Websites with phasmid photographs to Many thanks Sally for an excellent article, which I (hopefully!) inspire: know you started writing before successfully taking part in the PSG photographic competition. You My own: www.microcosmos.org.uk www.magmaconcept.com/insects obviously know your subject! www.phasmiden.de www.ifrance.com/phasme Newsletter 98.20 Website: www.stickinsect.org.uk PSG 58 Pharnacia species By Nick Wadham member 358.

This is one of the true giants of the Phasmid world. Belonging to the family Phasmatidae, sub-family Phasmatinae, genus Pharnaciini, species Pharnacia sumatranus. Occuring in Sumatra and West Malaysia, which according to Paul Brock share close geographical affinity. The females of this species can often reach phenomenal lengths of up to 28 cm. To the best of my knowledge this is a scarce species in the PSG, and I would like to hear from anyone who has this species in culture, in order that we may get it properly re-established.

Description. The ova are oval, glossy, and measure on average 5 mm in length, 4.5 mm wide and 4 mm deep. They have a base colour of brownish cream over which the sides have a greyer tint, which looks almost as though it has been sprayed on with an air brush, over this tint there may be a variety of black jagged markings. These are very variable and in some cases may not even be present. These markings become more pronounced when they get wet or are handled. The micropylar plate clearly seen in the above picture is an inverted Y, rounded at the ends and circled with a sharp dark brown line, which gradually fades into the base colour of the Ova. The micropyle is clearly visible in the axis of the Y and a dark brown line is visible, which leads to another dark brown almost black spot at the base of the Ova, 0.5 mm across. The operculum is elliptical, and dips down at the sides of the Ova. It is dark chocolate brown. The operculum measures 1.5 x 1 mm. On top is a prominent capitulum, which varies in shape considerably.

Under close scrutiny, its overall shape is generally like a kitchen cupboard doorknob. The sides of which are often variably crenulated. Incubation takes from six to eight months, and the ova do best when they are kept in damp living moss, at room temperature. There is very little if no mould, any that does occur is from damaged or cracked eggs, which are easy to spot and remove. (I have had considerable success with moss in other species. PSG 205 which have just begun to hatch and PSG 214, out of 60 ova, 48 have so far hatched.)

Newly hatched nymphs. From the start this is a hyper active, 25mm bundle of legs. It is impossible to define gender at this point. The base colour of the nymphs is dark chocolate brown, over which is the most remarkable variety of markings. White, green, pale ochre speckles adorn this creature, including the legs. Its feet are pale sometimes white, and unlike many other Phasmid species, these markings become increasingly varied, right up to and including adulthood. The characteristic swelling of the seventh abdominal segment is also visible. At the

Newsletter 98.21 Website: www.stickinsect.org.uk *s " ft first instar, the fore legs are almost the same length of the body, but this changes with time sis the insects grow.

Growth. This is initially rapid; nymphs moulting on average every four weeks, and it eventually stops at six weeks between moults from seventh instar onwards. The percentage length increase

between instars can be impressive, with the largest being up to 32 % increase between 4th and

5th instar. From third instar it can be possible to define gender. From third instar the first tarsal segment begins to reveal its large and curiously flattened sail like shape, which becomes more pronounced towards adulthood. From hatching to adulthood it takes a little over nine months to mature, sooner for males as they have one moult less than the females.

Adult female. Seen here in all her magnificence. This dark brown behemoth measuring an impressive 24cm is 17mm across her abdomen at it's widest, and 17mm across the seventh abdominal swelling. The beautiful markings on this creature are breathtaking. Lichen greens resembling mould and moss on top of a gnarled old twig with a variety of browns, and whites, with terracotta thrown in for good measure. Large hooked claws give good purchase. The heavily serrated fore legs are 130 mm long giving an overall body length of an astounding 370mm.

The mid and hind legs are a little more formidable, displaying an array of relatively small, but pin sharp spines,

which she is not afraid to bring to bear on the unwary. Though not painful it can be a surprise when you get caught.

The markings on her underside are just as if not more spectacular, with the greens being more pronounced. There are large patches of pale peppermint green at regular intervals along the length of her abdomen. Her ovipositor is non protrusive with two small cerci present, antennae measure 50mm. Eggs are laid at an interval of 4 during each 24 hour period. They are simply flicked from her ovipositor, sometimes with enough

Newsletter 98.22 Website: www.stickinsect.org.uk force to crack them if they hit a hard surface. She also has a considerable range, over three metres!

Adult Male. Not as well camouflaged as the female and considerably less bulky. His colouration shares some of the same base tones as those of the female, generally chocolate brown, with , s some mottling. .X: The underside St; .A; of his mesothorax is a rich earthy terracotta, and fades into a lovely shade of dark spruce green as we look further along his body. His finely serrated and lightly toothed limbs are long,and spindly. He shares the swelling at the seventh abdominal segment, and his genitalia are contained within a non descript bump, his abdomen ending with small claspers. The most striking feature is the presence of wings in the male, whereas the female does not even display the slightest hint of even wing buds. The leading edge of his wings are prominently marked out with a clearly defined white stripe, which seems to disappear half way and turn to a plain brown. Underneath the wings are marked with dark veins and dark grey membrane. His elytra are small and humped, also with the same white stripe.

Defence. The main method of defence is to remain motionless and resemble a dead twig, however the fema s being armed with an array of spines on the mid and hind legs will if necessary bring them to bear on any would be assailant. Though sharp and even at times mildly painful if caught on soft skin, this is a rather weak mechanism. The males too, will try to pinch with their even lighter range of spines. The female with her large jaws can inflict a painful bite if really provoked, but this is unlikely to draw blood.

Reari g. Initially my nymphs would only feed on evergreen oak, but from fifth instar onward suddenly switched to bramble. They have also taken Eucalyptus. Initially I would recommend rearing in a container with glass or plastic sides and a net front, but spay daily, as the nymphs get older they can be movec to an all net cage, but still need to be sprayed twice aily. The free airflow and humidity prevents would :e fatal leg jams. Acknowledgements. Thanks to Stephen Thomas for sendin3 me two of his males of the species, and Paul Brock, for identifying this as PSG 58 from spare ova.

Newsletter 98.23 Website: www.stickinsect.org.uk Thanks Nick for an excellent article with some great pictures. I see you also do some good works for Yeovil LETS. I do not know if your wife, Kara, told you about this, Creepy but I am indebted to her for sending me this interesting article by Anders Larsson of the Clarion Advertiser (printed crawlies with his permission). from all over the world at ar s centre THE! S were both live and zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBAt ad animals on displa when Yeovil LETS organised the Creepy Crawly lYi£ Night )ut at the town's Arts ( entre, to rescue a piece of card- said: "Yeovil LETS is a A number of keepers board with his teeth. way of sharing your skills had I > n invited and visi The task was carried out and talents, obtaining tors v ere treated to a wide in a successful and coura- items or getting jobs done select;'>n of specimens geous manner. In fact, it that may not be possible from a!I over the world. went so well that one of or affordable in the Then- was anything the insects tried to escape. Sterling world. from * uant African Land It took a sharp-eyed "It is a non-profit mak- SnaiK (which apparently reporter from another ing organisation run by make great pets) to publication to notice that I ordinary people, for ordi-

Golia;;. Stick Insects, usu was walking round the nary people. ally found on Eucalyptus place with one of the More information is trees in Australia. insects clinging on for available from CERES On-- of the organisers. dear lite to my back. Wholefoods at Princes Nick Wadham, insisted Mr Wadham quickly Street in Yeovil 01 on medi representatives intervened and put the 01935 863 966. undertook various chat fugitive back into the Above Photo: zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBANick lenges Yours truly, foi cage. Wadham with a examsile, had to stick his Yeovil LETS is an Phasma gigas. ugly mug into a cage full organisation whose mem- It is good to see our members of long-legged Pharnacia bers share their skills and educating the public on how interesting phasmids can be. If you speciv s and Phasma gigas talents. A spokesperson have any reports oN similar shows; please send them to me.

Newsletter 98.24 Website: www.stickinsect.org.uk MY LIFE WITH HOMO SAPIENS VAR. "PHASMIDIPHILENS"- A Stick Insect's Biography. By: Mrs. C. M. Morosus

Yes, yes I think you've seen me before or at least someone of my family.

My family? Well...we used to be quite famous you know. My grandma for instance was a great scientist, she had a job at the university, worked at a laboratory, had something to do with neurophysiology if I recall it correctly. Didn't see her much as she spent a lot of time in the Lab on some weird treadmill thing. She barely ever went to the family reunions, but my mom once f/t told me that she might have got a Nobel Prize if she hadn't passed away way too early.

My mom was a mammal educator (Homo sapiens to be precise) !?~~ and we used to live at a really nice apartment right in the " T~i ~V\ classroom with daily room service. She always told me how ;'' >" -'-^r-~. much she loved doing her job, teaching human nymphs to be friendly caretakers for all kinds of critters. Anyway working with clumsy mammals was not always easy, you must know, my mom even lost one of her legs plus half an antennae in an unfortunate accident with an adult female mammal who obviously had a problem with her six legged insects. Some of them can be really difficult to handle when they are in panic.

My Dad?... My mom always told me there was none or at least that she could not recall there to be one, if there was he must have left while I was still an ovum as I've never come to know him. Now that I think about it, I must say that there weren't many males in my family at all, at least not in the closer family... Except from my strange uncle whom I didn't meet very often. (My aunts keep telling everyone him is a gynandromorph.) I was born (or better to say I hatched) in a classroom under the eyes of a dozen excited mammals. My Mother told me later that being in their presence was really fortunate because my feet got stuck in the eggshell and needed care. When I was small I was really frightened of mammals but I soon learned that they are not as bad as they seem on first sight. Basically they're big, loud and appear to be slightly dim but if you know them better they can be really nice, easy to maintain and lots of fun, and some of them will do almost everything for one of us.

My sisters and I always loved to play twig with them, you know this game in which one simply drops, legs stiff and pulled to the body, and wait until someone asks whether the insect is dead -1 received a letter from my sister (in a pretty spidery handwriting as our kind find it rather difficult to hold a pen) recently, they went to London in summer and had a great day at the Museum of Natural History*, they were especially fascinated by all the adult Homo sapiens getting so excited just about the few of them coming for a visit.

Recalling, I think I had quite a pleasant childhood and was always healthy, probably as everyone in my family is vegetarian....(except from Aunt Phyllis who is not invited to parties anymore as she always tries to bite everyone's antennae and feet.)

When 1 was L3 I lost a had an unfortunate accident with our front door and my left second leg got trapped. 1 could not get free and lost my leg which was really a traumatic occurrence but the doctor said it would grow back sooner than I would think. He was right but I'm still having bad dreams about it. I left home when I was in my fifth instar. It wasn't too difficult to find a nice place to stay, and I even got a human butler. Now I can spend most of my day dozing and waiting for the evening. The food is great, it's nice and warm, I made my final moult some months after moving in and am now a fully qualified Phasmid, keeping the family business going, founding a little (only 50 or so nymphs) family. And who knows maybe one day I'll even make it onto the front cover of the great PSG Newsletter*.

*Some footnote for non-six-legged insect readers

1. Museum of Natural History: Big place where Stick insects can go to research humans, twice a year a meeting is hold in order to exchange information and to switch their human caretakers.

2. PSG. Newsletter: Something like the Cosmopolitan for stick insects, lifestyle and news.

Okay, in case you had not guessed it, Timm Reinhardt is on holiday from University, and has some spare time on his hands. Thanks for this Timm, I found it very amusing. *Check the front page

Newsletter 98.25 Website: www.stickinsect.org.uk Extatosoma tiaratum by Veronica Shuttleworth

The one in the photo is two years old, and spent most days last summer in the garden on bramble, protected by a step ladder. (Her sister provided a meal for a pigeon, before I used protection for them).

Indoors I kept the lid off their cage, as the weather was hot, and they have never walked away. The photo is of her on a tobacco plant - the flowers of which she found good to eat.

I find they like being sprayed with rain water once a day - especially the young nymphs, who like finding the droplets of water.

I keep newly hatched young ones in a smaller container - but when I put one, healthy nymph into the big cage it died soon afterwards. I wonder if the printer's ink on the newspaper I used to line the cage with caused her death.

My other insects are Sipyloidea. I also left the lid off their cage during the hot weather, so they had the freedom of my kitchen - they were mostly accounted for each evening, though some went missing for several days, and one or two young have hatched around the room. One nymph I found on a tobacco plant in the garden - so I wonder if it hatched from an egg after I had cleaned their cage.

Thanks Veronica for an interesting article and photograph. I've heard of pet owners having house-rabbits and even house- rats, but house-stickinsects is a first to me. Though I did hear of someone who kept a lone stick in a jar on his desk at work. Sounds great though - has any other reader tried keeping house-stickinsects?

Rev Joy has given us yet another cartoon, many thanks. In the December Newsletter, Joy's poem had the last line missed off. Apologies Joy. To make more sense to our new members, I'll reprint the poem in full, below, hope you enjoy it.

A STICK'S DREAM ON CHRISTMAS EVE "Go ahead pooch make my day!!" A stick went to sleep on Christmas Eve Answers to quiz on Page 16. And even though it's hard to believe, 1. Australia He wrote on a note things he wanted to receive 2. The cap which is found on stick insect ova 3. Pseudophasmatinae For Santa in his stocking to leave. 4. Ligustrum 5. The breathing holes found down the sides of the abdomen Things he asked for simple and free, 6. Four 7. Oreophoetes peruana A leaf to eat for his family and he. Phaenopharos Khaoaiyensis - red A branch to sit for him to see Aplopus jamaicensis - red From here he thought to eternity. Pseudophasma acanthonala - black 9. The female is larger 10. It is the 'ball joint' where the legs join onto the thorax. A real nice plant for him to call home, 11. Bacillus rossius A place where he could roam. 12. Papua New Guinea His family safe and sound 13. This is the surname of the first person to officially describe the Growing so big and round. species. 14. Ian Abercrombie, member of the PSG committee 15. Six legs So on this night clear and bright 16. Fern. Oreophoetes also eats fern. our little stick saw Santa, a lovely sight 17. Aplopus jamaicensis 18. Antarctica Leaves a plenty a branch or two, 19. The genus Phobaeticus contains the longest phasmid species (P. Happy stick and his family too. kirbyi and P. serratipes) and therefore the longest insects in the world. 20. Elytra are the forewings and alae are the hindwings.

Newsletter 98.26 Website: www.stickinsect.org.uk TE . : PAGE!

Newsletter 98.26 Website: www.stickinsect.org.uk i

PSG ME RCHAN E JE SE 3SL Pens - 40p each + P&P ::iYV Stickers - 60p each + P&P

Car Window Stickers - 60p each + P&P

;p & P per order on all the above UK - 25p, Overseas - 40p) STICKERS 60p The size of a CD. Either sticky on front, for use T SHIRTS in car windows, or sticky on back for sticking onto things. With the following designs -

Oreophoetes peruana PSG No 84 Aretaon asperrimus PSG No 118 Phyllium bioculatum PSG No 10

£6.50each + P&P ( UK £1.00, Overseas £1.50)

Sizes - large and Xtra-large only (at present;

PENS 40p

Phyllium bioculatum Aretaon asperrimus Oreophoetes peruana PSG No 10 (£6.50) PSG No 118 (£6.50) PSG No 84 (£6.50)

Please send your order to James Waddicor, 3 Squires Copse, Peatmoor, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN5 5HB. (Cheques made payable to "The Phasmid Study Group")

Tel 01793 877617 for more info if required.

All these above items will usually also be available at the Summer and the AGM/Winter Meetings, prices as above, but you save on the P&P. Also available at these meetings should be a selection of Stick Insect books, at prices lower than the publishers' prices.

Newsletter 98.28 Website: www.stickinsect.org.uk WANTS & aXGHANGES

Do not forget that your spare ova (eggs) should be sent to our Livestock Co-ordinator, Jan Fletcher. Also, any requests for ova, etc may go to Jan too:

125 Malvern Drive, North Common, Warmley, Bristol, BS30 8UY. Tel: 01179 604917, e-mail: [email protected].

No member has given me anything for the Wants & Exchanges column!

OUR LIVESTOCK COORDINATOR, Jan Fletcher, advises that she currently has a surplus of the following ova(eggs):PSGNos1, &, 14, 15;, 19, 23, 29, 32,. 44, 73, 83. 1Q1, 104, 127, 157, 169, 174, 181, 183, 189, 195, 202, 203, 208, 211,, 213, 214, 215,216, 224, 227,229, 230, 231, 232, 237, 240, 242, 246, DiapMmod&s gjganteM* Lopaphm §0,1 (Laos), Lqpaphus sp,2 (Laos), Ramulus sp. (Laos) & Eurycnema osiris. Surplus nymphs; PSG Nos 31, 38, 118, 165, 173, 183, 192. 224 & Dimorphcdes sp.

The following ova are wanted: PSG Nos. 9,10. 15, 18. 21. 26, 28, 30, 31, 35, 45, 48, 58, 61, 69, 70, 80, 81, 107, 108. 110, 117, 125, 130, 137, 157, 172, 175, 177, 180,193. 197, 198,199, 208, & 212.

Jan also advises that members should not send nymphs to her without first contacting her, so appropriate arrangements can be made for their arrival. Ova, however, may be sent anytime. Jan's contact details ace at the top, of this page, SPECIAL NOTE - JANINE WILL BE UNAVAILABLE IN APRIL, PLEASE DO NOT SEND HER ANYTHING OR TRY TO CONTACT HER THEN. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Phasmid Study Group Species List Is Online - at www.sungaya.de By Oliver Zompro

Anyone with an e-mail adress can subscribe to a newsletter, which informs about additions to the list. To avoid an overflow of mails, it will be mailed every second week. Just send a mail to [email protected]. I do not add species to the list, if you have a new species without a PSG number, please contact Phil Bragg. Thanks to everybody who supported this project! XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

NEXT NEWSLETTER

Please send all contributions to the Editor (anytime, but by 15th May for a place in the June, 2004

PSG Newsletter, 1st May to guarantee a place):-

Mike Smith, 13 Runnacles Street, Silver End, Witham, Essex, CM8 3QN. Tel: 01376 584388. e-mail: [email protected]. a. On disk* b. By e-mail c. Typed d. Handwritten

*MS Word (any version) preferred (for pictures too). On IBM compatible computer disk providing it is'sent on a 3.5" double or high density disk, or on CD RW. Files can be accepted as Dos Text, Word Perfect, or as ASC11 files.

(Unless the contributor specifically requests otherwise): All contributions to the Newsletter will be deemed to be submitted to the PSG Website (and vice versa), the Belgian-Dutch Phasma, the German Arthropoda for translation, and Lukasz Czok's Polish website for translation (www.phasmids.prv.pl). The editor may make minor changes to contributions where deemed necessary-

Newsletter 98.29 Website: www.stickinsect.org.uk