We got my son some Spiny Leaf Insects (Extatosoma tiaratum) as a Christmas present. I have never kept these before, so it is an adventure for all of us.
We had planned on getting three, but they are so fascinating that I ended up buying four. There is one that is slightly larger than this little guy, and two that are smaller.
They are far too little for me to know if they are males or females, hopefully there is at least one of each so they can set up a little breeding colony. They don't live terribly long, so if we want them next year we need them to grow and lay some eggs.
One cool thing about this species of leaf insect is that they are parthenogenic, meaning the females can lay eggs even if there are no males present. These eggs hatch into clones of the mother, which is pretty cool. There are some species of parthenogenic lizard which males have never been found!
I am told in this species of leaf insect that eggs produced with fertilisaiton by males tend to have higher hatch rates and produce larger and stronger offspring, and that after enough generations of parthenogenic reproduction that they start to become pretty feeble. So I hope that there are both males and females in this lot.
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