Acrophylla titan
Acrophylla titan, the titan stick insect, is the second-longest stick insect found in Australia. It is second only to the Ctenomorpha gargantua[1]
| Acrophylla titan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Adult female (pinned specimen) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Phasmatodea |
| Infraorder: | Anareolatae |
| Family: | Phasmatidae |
| Subfamily: | Phasmatinae |
| Genus: | Acrophylla |
| Species: | A. titan |
| Binomial name | |
| Acrophylla titan Macleay, 1827 | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
It is native to south-east Queensland and New South Wales.
Description
Titan stick insects are pale brown-grey in color and can grow up to 26 centimetres (10 in) in body length. The females can be easily identified as being larger than the males. Males are able to fly but females are flightless.
Breeding
A. titan breeds during winter/summer. During the mating process, the male connects his abdomen to the lower part of the female's egg compartment. Mating can take up to 40 minutes and is repeated several times. A single female can produce 200 to 1000 eggs in her lifetime.
The females then flick their eggs to the ground. The eggs look similar to those of the children's stick insect (Tropidoderus childrenii) but they are black-grey with a small white growth. Ants pick them up and eat the growth, and leave the egg in the refinery where they hatch.
See also
References
- "Ctenomorpha gargantua". www.gbif.org. Retrieved 2023-04-21.