Cigar Stick insect molting

Last night I discovered my Cigar Stick insect (Cigarrophasma tessellatum) molting. I’ve raised quite a few insects that molt, but have only been lucky enough to see it a handful of times. I left it alone for most of it, since I’m always paranoid my presence will stress it out. So, here’s a picture of it molting, and then a few after pictures, with a couple from when it was smaller.

Meet the new kids on the block

Just a quick post to introduce you all to my latest additions to the creepy crawly family.

Top left: Fire-back Huntsman (Beregama cordata)
Top right: Cigar Stick insect nymph (Cigarrophasma tessellatum)
Bottom right: Giant Burrowing Cockroach nymph (Macropanesthia rhinoceros)
Bottom right: Wuelfing Stick insect nymph (Acrophylla wuelfingi)

I’ll be doing some follow-up posts with more in-depth information on all these guys, as well as on their progress and growth.

Farewell Byfield Rainforest

This is a bitter sweet post for me; our family is moving next week.  When we first moved to the Byfield Rainforest, I had no idea the adventures I would uncover.  I have always had my creature friends everywhere we’ve lived; birds of many species, different frogs, lizards, bugs, etc.  But, as you would imagine, a rainforest has a few more exciting creatures than your average place.  Just when I thought that I had seen everything the rainforest had to offer, something else would turn up.  And sometimes it was something I never knew existed.

I’ve always been an animal lover but Byfield is the place that really cemented my love for the insect world.  I mean, midwest America isn’t exactly the mecca for unusual bugs.  And there is just something special about being in another country and learning about all of the new, and sometimes strange, wildlife.

In the eight months we’ve lived here I have taken hundreds of pictures and encountered many species of bugs, birds, snakes, lizards, marsupials, arachnids and even fish.  And let me tell you, I’ve heard children are hard to photograph but they don’t have a thing on a stick bug or a lightning fast skink.  The challenge wasn’t necessarily to find them, it was to get a picture that was clear and showed their colour, size and features.  We had a few mishaps, frogs landing on heads, katydids landing on faces, Christmas beetles who seem to almost relish defecating on you whenever possible (I chalk that one up to nerves) and one, four-legged Huntsman spider that made sure he went out with a bang…or should it be ‘fang’?

I will miss them all greatly, they’ve taught me a lot.  But I am thankful for the excitement and thirst for learning they have all instilled in me just.by.being.

Please enjoy my collection of photographs I’ve taken over the past months.  And stay tuned!  Lots more adventures to come!