Welcome to the family: Spiny Leaf Insects

It’s my birthday on Monday. It’s also the birthday of Huey Lewis from Huey Lewis and The News. That makes me feel both ridiculously happy and ridiculously old but you know what they say (and by ‘they’ I mean Huey Lewis), “It’s hip to be square”. Words to live by 🤣

And guess who got an early birthday present? This gal! I knew Matt was expecting a parcel and I tried desperately to distract the dogs who tend to go a tad mental when anyone comes to the door. The drop off was pretty painless though and I was told to close my eyes as Matt made a dash for the front door and then into the study, package in hand, to decide whether or not this present could wait. Lucky for me the decision was made that it most definitely couldn’t wait and so I was ushered into the lounge room where, on the coffee table, sat a large mesh enclosure and not one but two Spiny Leaf Insects!!! Cue much squealing and excitement! Seriously one of my favourite presents ever!

I’ve never actually kept any non-domesticated animals before, apart from the odd fish or two, but the enclosed sheet promised these guys were easy peasy starter animals and besides, I was a zoo keeper in my former life and I got a tingle just thinking about all the research and planning I was going to do to set up the enclosure perfectly. I may or may not have driven around, jumping out whenever I saw some low hanging eucalyptus leaves (which these guys eat) and grabbed them out of people’s gardens when they weren’t looking. I was excited, okay? That’s my excuse and I’m sticking with it! 😉

But it’s only day two and I am already hopelessly and totally in love with these two girls. Kinda wish their lifespan was longer than 12-18months though 😩 The smaller, possibly younger insect, was more shy than her housemate and took a little coaxing onto my hand but after the offer of some freshly misted leaves, which she enthusiastically took up for a drink and a nibble, we now seem to be firm friends.

I’m really looking forward to sharing their development with you all, from their moulting as they grow (females moult six times, with the males moulting five to reach maturity) to footage of them feeding and hopefully, hopefully, hopefully the laying of and hatching of eggs. And yes the females can reproduce without a male!!! If she mates with a male, those eggs hatch more quickly and will be a mix of male and female offspring, but if she reproduces by parthenogenesis, that is by herself, the nymphs will all be essentially clones of her and all females! These insects are seriously amazing and I hope you’re ready for a wild ride!

Spiny Leaf Insects – Northern Illawarra