The Phasmid Study Group Is Invited to Exhibit at Some Show S
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/ ,0 ,0 ,0 («i |0 ,« (V ,» ,\\\\\\ t\\* ,» |«. ,* !«. ,S ,\\\\\\\\» ,S ,\\1 f% t«. t0 ,\ ,\\ »K f* f* rSSfe ^ £ * I' > f The Phasmid ... Study Group .V CHAIRMAN: Judith Marshall. - Dept. of Entomology, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD. (Tel: 020 7942 5610; FAX 020 7942 5229) E-mail: [email protected]. TREASURER/MEMBERSHIP: Paul Brock. "Papillon", 40 Thorndike Road, Slough, Berks. SL2 1SR. (Tel: 01753 579447) E-mail: Not currently available on e-mail i' SECRETARY: Phil Bragg. 8 The Lane, Awsworth, Nottinghamshire, NG16 2QP. (Tel: 0115 9305010). Pictures as featured inside this Newsletter!! DECEMBER 2002 NEWSLETTER No 93 ISSN 0268-3806 i' Newsletter 93.1 „ —. yr» k<t to-M> k«* »"«* p-M> =«• + ~ + »•* »''* ^"^ K"» ».-*»> p4* #."** ^« t\0 ,V (l ,» f\X t* «S |0 (|» |\» |«> ««. ,1 ,1 »V ,1 |% |S t\N »% «% |1 |» |» |0 «% |1 f H f1 |* f\» f<l |» |0 |0 f\0 «% |* ([I Diary Dates 2003 January 18th; Saturday, 11.30 am F*SG AGM zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA& Winter Meeting Spencer Gallery, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London. [Note the change of room, re refurbishment]. February 9th; Sunday Bugs & Beasties Show Selby, North Yorkshire (Contact Steve, www.bugsnstuff.co.uk). NB Steve is looking for some Phasmid Exhibitors — can you help? April 6th; Sunday, 10.30 am Spring Entomological Show (formerly Kettering Show) Kettering Leisure Village (Contact Jack Harris, 01455 444792). [It's like a mini AES Exhib, Ed.] British Tarantula Society Exhibition May 2003 — more details in next Newsletter Nature Matters Event June 2003 — Has anyone any details on this? F*SG Summor Meeting July 2003 - more details after the AGM. Invertebrate Day at Colchester Zoo 17 August 2003 — more details in article in this Newsletter. Lincoln Invert Show September 2003 - Has anyone any details on this? West of England Oreepy Crawly Show Has anyone any details on this? AES Exhibition October 2003 — more details later. PLEASE CHECK WITH THE ORGANISERS THAT SHOWS ARE STILL ON, G AT TIMES SHOWN, BEFORE SETTING OUT - THE RSG CANNOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR A WASTED JOURNEY. 1FT YOU ARE AWARE OF AISfY AnntT^QNAL, SHOW^S ^v^oLv^isrc? PHAstvfiins, OR OT> ER JISJSEQTS, SPIDERS, ETC?, HOWEVER Rl<? OR SfyfAU THE SH^W- PLEASE PASS THE PETALS ON TO THE £DtTpR. The Phasmid Study Group is invited to exhibit at some show s. If you w ould 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. IF YOU ATTEND THESE OR OTHER SHOWS, PLEASE SEND IN A REVIEW FOR THE NEWSLETTER. Newsletter 93.2 Editorial Welcome to the December issue of the PSG Newsletter, on behalf of the PSG Committee may I wish you all a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR This is yet another Christmas, bumper bundle issue! Our members have again been very generous with their contributions - thanks; there are items on all sorts of subjects. I've put a lot of time and effort into this Newsletter as well, and I sincerely hope there is something here for everyone! When I first took over as editor of the Newsletter, very few contributions were forthcoming. I therefore make only a small apology for all the gentle "arm twisting" I've done to get contributions, since the resulting Newsletters are all the better for it. However, it was suggested to me that the apparent high quality of the Newsletter may put off members from contributing, in case their own contribution looks inferior. Please send me a contribution to the Newsletters anyway - once a contribution has been put in print, spell-checked, and given a fancy title and a picture, it will always look fantastic. I'll make sure all your contributions look great; you just keep sending them in. You may have noticed that the front sheet is in colour We are much indebted to PSG member, and regular Newsletter contributor, Cameron, for this. We could only have one page in colour, so I decided the front page would have most impact. Hope you all agree. And doesn't Joy's excellent picture on the front cover look great in colour. Special thanks, therefore to Cameron and Joy. Owing to some changes, this is the last Newsletter to be printed by the Open University. They have given us an excellent service, so a big thank you to David Robinson and his team. Future Newsletters will be by another printer (that may be able to print occasional pages in colour at a reasonable price ). Negotiations are currently taking place - so look out for the next Newsletter. However, unless you renew your membership, you will not receive another Newsletter. So please do not forget to send in your renewal form at back of this Newsletter. The prices are the same as last year (and they were good then!) - there will be no other reminders. (If you lose this form, membership details are also on the PSG Website: www.stickinsect.org.uk). With the last Newsletter was a copy of a PSG Newsletter index compiled by John Sellick, apologies to John because some of the tabs were not right, making the lines look untidy. Finally, a reminder that I just edit the Newsletter. Therefore, I'm the one to contact if you have a contribution for it. I enjoy hearing from you, but it would save your time if you contacted the right committee member to handle your queries, rather than contacting me in the first instance. Eg details of your change of address, or non-receipt of Newsletters should go to the Membership Secretary, requests for livestock (unless it is to be advertised in the Newsletter) should go to the Livestock Co-ordinator, etc. Anyway, enjoy this Newsletter. Regards to all, and have a great Christmas! MIKE SMITH REQUEST FOR ARTI CLES. ETC FOR THE PSG NEWSLETTER Please send me your articles, reviews on shows and meetings, wants & exchanges, drawings, photos, phasmid problems, \\\ answers to problems, crosswords, quizzes, puzzles, comments, web site details, etc, etc. My details are at the back of each Newsletter. Also send me your ideas or comments on the Newsletters. Many thanks, Ed/ t or. Newsletter 93.3 SUCCESSFUL Sung ay a inexpectata PSG 195 By Cameron Die Konigin Introduction Sungaya inexpectata, despite its common occurrence in culture, is quite a recent addition to the Phasmid list. It was discovered on Luzon, one of the Philippine islands in 1995 as one lone female and from which all current cultures have descended. (See drawing). It is a member of the Heteropteryginae but, unlike its relatives, such as Haniella and Heteropteryx, it is very easy to maintain being not too particular in its requirements, and breeding readily. A mild mannered species, it takes to handling well and quite often plays dead and therefore remaining motionless - attributes that make it ideal for the younger Phasmid collector, where more aggressive species such as Haniella are not. Sungaya in culture are all females and therefore they reproduce parthenogenetically. From the literature and correspondences that I have read, no males have ever been found and this species has always, in its short history, been parthenogenetic. Therefore the description below applies to the female only! Description Ova These are quite distinctive. They resemble miniature versions of a witch's cauldron being almost spherical and, when moist, black in colour with a flat lid sitting on the top. Close up, they have a characteristic three armed pattern on one side and are pitted all over (see picture). They do become paler when allowed to dry out, becoming grey. Nymphs After approximately five months the ova hatch, each producing a dark grey nymph without any distinctive markings, spines or patterning, and about one inch long. After the first moult the colour lightens and a minimal amount of patterning appears but otherwise the only difference is that the nymph is a little larger. Subsequent moults however result in a more dramatic change in colour, patterning and shape. From the second moult onwards, the nymphs change to a much paler colour, a very light brown that can sometimes be so light that the nymphs can often appear white when seen against a dark background. Green patches that appear on the head, thorax and legs give the appearance that the nymphs are actually weathered pieces of stone that have the first appearance of mossy growth and enhances this paleness. The green markings can vary from one specimen to another (I have seen a photograph of a specimen that had considerable areas of green that covered more than half of the body) and seem to be most pronounced when the nymphs are raised in quite humid conditions. Newsletter 93.4 It is also at this stage that the spines and appendages begin to appear. They never develop to the extreme seen in other members of the Heteropteryginae being rather small and many of them barely noticeable but they are produced throughout the body, head and legs. There are, however, four pointed spines that are produced on the upper side of the thorax that although are not very high do have very broad bases and these are all the more noticeable as they are coloured only on one side by darker triangular markings that give the appearance of a shadow therefore accentuating their size. The back of the head also develops a noticeable 'crown' of small spines and a distinctive upright flap develops on the abdomen near to the ovipositor. From the fourth moult onwards the nymphs tend to lose the green colouration and the general colour of the whole body tends to darken to a mid brown with darker patches throughout.