Common name: Malaysian Giant Stick Insect / Serrated Giant Stick Insect Origin: Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore and Sumatra, in humid lowland and hill rainforest. One of the longest insects in the world, with total length including the outstretched front legs exceeding half a metre in large females. Diet: Bramble is the staple and is accepted year round. Oak, hazel, raspberry, guava, rose and salal are also taken well. Nymphs can be reluctant to switch foodplant, so overlap old and new branches for several days rather than swapping in one go. Avoid garden centre plants and anything from treated gardens, as pesticide residue stays lethal to phasmids long after application. Stand cut stems in a bottle with the neck plugged so small nymphs cannot fall in and drown. Temperature: 22 to 28 degrees. Room temperature suits this species in most homes, though growth slows below 20 degrees. Avoid sustained heat above 30 degrees combined with dry air, as this causes moulting failures. Humidity: 75 to 85 percent, misted daily. High and stable humidity is essential given the extreme body length, as an animal of this size needs a long soft moult to pull free cleanly. Dehydration is the leading cause of lost limbs and death in this species. Keep the air humid but moving, since stagnant conditions encourage mould on the foodplant. Size: Adult females reach around 27 to 33cm in body length, extremely slender, in shades of green through to brown, with the characteristic serrated ridges along the legs that give the species its name. Including the front legs held out in front of the head, total length can reach 50 to 55cm. Adult males are far shorter and much thinner at roughly 15 to 18cm, brown, with long antennae and a more active temperament. Nymphs hatch at around 2 to 3cm and are already noticeably elongated. Diet note on handling: See Defense below, as the fragility of this species affects everyday maintenance more than in most phasmids. Lifespan: Around 12 to 18 months in total, with females taking roughly 6 to 8 months to reach adulthood and living a further 4 to 6 months after the final moult. Males mature faster and live shorter lives. Defense: Passive. This species has no defensive spray and relies entirely on camouflage and catalepsy, holding rigid with the front legs extended alongside the head and swaying gently to imitate a branch in the wind. It is safe to handle, but the sheer length and thin build make it one of the most fragile phasmids in the hobby. Never pull an animal off a branch, as it will shed legs rather than release its grip. Always coax it onto a hand or let it walk across, and support the body along its full length when moving it. Breeding: Not parthenogenetic, both sexes are required for fertile eggs. Females begin laying around 3 to 4 weeks after their final moult and flick their eggs away across the enclosure floor, producing several per day and often several hundred in total. Eggs are around 5 to 6mm, dark brown and ridged. Collect them from the floor and incubate on damp sand or vermiculite at 24 to 26 degrees, kept moist but never wet. Incubation takes roughly 4 to 8 months. Keep an eye on hatching nymphs, as they emerge very long and delicate and need immediate access to vertical space. Housing: Height is the single most important factor and the usual rule of three times body length is not negotiable here. For adult females an enclosure of at least 60x60x90cm is needed, and taller is genuinely better, as an animal that cannot hang free during a moult will be crippled or die. Even nymphs need considerably more height than their size suggests, since they moult repeatedly on the way up. Use mesh sides or textured surfaces to give the animals secure grip, provide sturdy branching for them to hang from, and keep the floor clear and lined with kitchen paper or a thin substrate layer so eggs are easy to collect. Combine mesh with solid panels to retain humidity while keeping the air fresh.