Workbook

Insect #1

Stick Insect found on lounge room sliding door on morning of 8/1/19

photographed on 8/1/19.

I originally mistook this insect for a male, assuming that the reddish terminal structure was the vomer. In fact, Paul Brock has identified this insect as a female.

He has also identified it as being a Candovia species. I had originally rejected Candovia as a possible genus on the assumption my animal was a male, which in Candovia are considerably smaller than the 87mm of my insect.

wingless

body length (from tip of head to end of abdomen, excluding antennae) 87mm

antennae 60mm

foreleg length 50mm

head length 3.5mm

pronotum length 3.9mm

mesonotum length 18.5mm

metanotum length 11mm

Insect #2

stick insect found during the day on 18/1/16 on window screen.

wingless female - shape of terminus in lateral view is very similar to the insect on 8/1/18

overall length 130mm with legs outstretched alongside antennae

head to abdomen length 85mm

antennae 65mm

foreleg length 55 mm

head length 4mm

pronotum length 4mm

mesonotum length 17mm

metanotum length 10mm

strikingly similar morphology and patterning of mesonotum, pronotum, head and antennae to insect imaged on 8/1/19 - compare images below

This insect is clearly the same species as Insect #1, albeit a different colour morph.

Insect #3

Female - Caught by Cryptachaea gigantipes on 7/2/19

Paul Brock sent me images of a male and female Candovia aberrata collected at Evans Heads. He has suggested this might be the identity of my insects.

While the colour of his female is different to mine (brown vs grey/green), there is a striking similarity between his images and my grey animal in the pattern of blotches on the dorsal midline of abdominal, thoracic segments and the head, as well as the leg patterning. He has also told me that “Candovia has some amazing colour forms, dependant on where the insects are developing, as well as foodplants”. 

Paul Brock has also sent me this image of eggs of Candovia aberrata he collected from a female he captured at Evans Heads.

All of this information provides a strong case for my insects being Candovia aberrata.

I will aim to capture a male of a mating pair and collect eggs from our female in culture to confirm this.

This is a workbook page … a part of our website where we record the observations and references used in making species identifications. The notes will not necessarily be complete. They are a record for our own use, but we are happy to share this information with others.