Husbandry Manual Goliath Stick Insect - Nswfmpa.org

Husbandry Manual for Eurycnema goliath
Tara Bearman
wings green, often with white longitudinal bars suffused with purple. Inner margin bright red.
Underside completely bright red. Hind wings transparent, with veins invariably green (Brock,
1998).
Legs
Long and slender with bold denticulated ridges, mottled with green and yellow; with bold apical
spines; inner margin of hind tibia usually with 7 brown, well spread spines, of which fourth and
fifth spines more than twice as long and broad as others. Forefemur more serrate than mid-and
hind femur; in male, spine formation usually more pronounced, with up to 3 bold larger spines
subbasally on central ridges of mid- and hind femur and tibia (Brock, 1998).
3.2 Distribution and Habitat
The goliath stick insect occurs in eastern portions of Australia, where it can be found on a wide
range of shrubs and trees. It occurs as far south as Singleton NSW and as far north as Stratford
QLD (Miller, 2003). The projected distribution (Fig.1) includes a small area in Western Australia
as there is a distinct possibility that a feral population may form, due to the improper disposal of
goliath stick insect frass by phasmid enthusiasts. This frass may contain viable eggs which hatch
under the environmental conditions of Western Australia.
Figure 2. Distribution of Eurycnema goliath.
Reproduced from A Guide to the Stick Insects of Australia (Miller, 2003), with permission from
Peter Miller.
3.3 Conservation Status
• No IUCN listing.
• ASMP category – Not Evaluated – Management level 3. These taxa are censused annually.
The census of current and planned holdings for the region is published in the annual ASMP
Regional Census and Plan document (Lees & Wilcken, 2002).
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