WTB Phyllium monteithi (True Leaf Insects)

[Harry89]

Hello,

I have been on the hunt for awhile now and coming into warmer weather again there might be availability of: Phyllium monteithi, our only true leaf insect.

I am flexible on patterns, price and postage, please let me know if anyone keeps them. Also, yes I am watching the pages for Minibeast and AIF, just thought I would broaden my hunt in case we have some breeders on here too. Thanks guys!

 

[Sdaji]

Someone was selling them at a crazy price for small numbers a couple of years or so ago. When it comes to phasmids they either end up overwhelming you with numbers or dying out. It looks like these never made it to being common. Good luck finding some, and if you do, share them freely with everyone - they're really cool. I'm just going to get myself some Phyllium giganteum

 

[Harry89]

It's just hard as there are no other 'true' leaf insects in Australia and importing is a big no no. They are just so cute and quite different to our other species.

As far as bugs go, I would LOVE one of these, Orchid Mantis! So not legal here though:

 

[Sdaji]

I'm not sure about the legalities of foreign insects in Australia. I don't really care as I have no interest in keeping exotic anything in Australia, but everyone keeps and breeds exotic cockroaches (woodies/Nauphoeta cinerea, Periplanetum americana etc), crickets, mealworms, etc, and there are many other examples of exotic insects commonly cultured in captivity, and plenty more which are wild and I'm sure I could go catch and keep legally. If you found wild Phyllium of a different species on a tree, surely you could keep them, and it wouldn't be remotely surprising if another species was found to be native. Many years ago on APS we had a discussion about this topic. I can't actually recall what the outcome was, but I think someone actually got off their **** and bothered to look up the regs.

Orchid mantids are super cool, but I doubt I'd ever keep them again. As a younger fella I kept and bred some of the local species, and brilliant as it was they were more work than they were worth. Try breeding a couple of generations of easy local mantids, then tell me you want to bother with orchids! I'm happy to see stuff like that and enjoy looking at it, but have no desire to keep it.
[doublepost=1517198378,1517198329][/doublepost]Ah, I see we have an overzealous language filter in APS 2.0, reminiscent of the old days

 

[Scutellatus]

I'm not sure about the legalities of foreign insects in Australia. I don't really care as I have no interest in keeping exotic anything in Australia, but everyone keeps and breeds exotic cockroaches (woodies/Nauphoeta cinerea, Periplanetum americana etc), crickets, mealworms, etc, and there are many other examples of exotic insects commonly cultured in captivity, and plenty more which are wild and I'm sure I could go catch and keep legally. If you found wild Phyllium of a different species on a tree, surely you could keep them, and it wouldn't be remotely surprising if another species was found to be native. Many years ago on APS we had a discussion about this topic. I can't actually recall what the outcome was, but I think someone actually got off their **** and bothered to look up the regs.

Orchid mantids are super cool, but I doubt I'd ever keep them again. As a younger fella I kept and bred some of the local species, and brilliant as it was they were more work than they were worth. Try breeding a couple of generations of easy local mantids, then tell me you want to bother with orchids! I'm happy to see stuff like that and enjoy looking at it, but have no desire to keep it.
[doublepost=1517198378,1517198329][/doublepost]Ah, I see we have an overzealous language filter in APS 2.0, reminiscent of the old days

It isn't overzealous, it is Family Friendly.

 

[Harry89]

I wouldn't breed mantids, the cannibalism issue is a little too hard to manage when hundreds of them hatch and need to be isolated... But I have a Rain forest Mantis and love keeping her well fed, she is an eating machine with lighting reflexes its just astonishing!

The leaf variety of insect though are much more reasonable to keep for breeding and to house, while still being quite interesting to watch. No where near as fast and very clumsy in the way they move, but cute in their own right.

 

[Sdaji]

Yeah, I plan to keep phasmids again in the future, they're super cool and relatively low maintenance, you just need a patch of trees to rape, but mantids are a big hassle.

 

[jahan]

Is this the same thing.

 

[Harry89]

Hi @jahan - No, that's a spiny leaf insect, very common and quite different, I have a few of those. Thank you though.