Husbandry Manual Goliath Stick Insect - Nswfmpa.org

Husbandry Manual for Eurycnema goliath
Tara Bearman
1 Introduction
There are 900 000 documented species of insects in the world, with thousands more described
each year. Insects are estimated to make up 99% of animal species in the world and yet there is
little emphasis on displaying this diversity in zoos. In fact there is an extreme bias towards the
remaining 1% of the world’s taxon, especially towards mammals. Phasmids otherwise known as
stick / leaf insects are just one type of insect found in the world. They have been kept in private
collections for many years. They make educational displays in zoos that can be quite
entertaining. They draw a lot of attention due to their larger sizes and colour variations. The
goliath stick insect grows to 20cm in length and is a fairly easy species to keep in captivity. They
are not endangered, but make great ambassadors for those that are, such as the ‘Lord Howe
Island Stick Insect.’ There is no IUCN listing for the goliath stick insect and their ASMP category
is ‘Not Evaluated.’
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