Legs and Leaf Hats

Hello and welcome. 🙂

Last October 12th once again marked my annual visit to the Tinley Park NARBC expo! It was a worthwhile experience, as always, but did I come back with anything like I usually do? Well, you'll just have to find out. 😛

It was the day of the expo and we were running regularly late. We jumped in the car and started on our way. Unlike our previous trips, this one was very bright and beautiful instead of the drab, rainy days we were used to. After satisfactory time, we pulled up to the convention center and walked through those golden doors. 😁 Things were just about as crowded as they had always been. As we waited to get our tickets (wrist-bands) and programs, we studied Bubba the Alligator, who would sit in the middle of that lobby for the final time. Eventually we gained admission and stepped out onto the vendors' floor. Already ducking and weaving past reptiles and amphibians, we weren't seeming to be greeted with anything other than a tarantula, isopod, or the odd scorpion. 😕 We stopped for a few minutes to purchase some animal merch (which I sport basically 24/7) and then continued on. In the middle of what seemed like a desert for funky arthropods, we stumbled across a booth that thankfully wasn't a mirage. It was one that I had caught glimpse of before, but never paid much attention to. It belonged to Steve Schind, otherwise known as sschind on the arthropod forums. There was a particular spice to this booth and a select couple things caught different eyes among my family. We passed by initially to get a better grip of what all the show had to offer, but ended up returning to go in for the kill. When the dust settled, we ended up going home with one small Damon diadema juvenile (for my little brother) and 2 small, female Phyllocrania paradoxa nymphs (for me/my mom)! Let's talk about said newcomer and throwbacks to the past. 😁

Damon diadema is a goodly species of Whipspider from Africa. Although "spider" resides in the name, this animal actually belongs to a separate order of arachnids called Amblypygi. In nature, they make a habit of hanging around in secluded areas like caves and any sorts of nooks or crannies they come across. Since they inhabit these places that are devoid of much visual stimuli, they have lost nearly all of their eyesight in exchange for their first set of legs being turned into sorts of walking sticks (what "whip" refers to in the name). Their bodies are rather vividly-colored when young, but they quickly transition to a more earthy palette, all the while being enveloped in elaborate patterning. It is joined with Damon medius as the only Damon species circulating the hobby with any regularity.

I'm currently keeping my brother's individual in a 32 oz. deli cup with a decent number of large pinholes poked in the lid for ventilation. The substrate is a half inch of coconut fiber, which I keep moderately moist. Besides that, it has a piece of cork board for climbing on.

WATCH ME WHIP, WATCH ME SPIDER.

(If the hands seem different, yes, they are my little brother's 😅) 

Smaller individual

Smaller individual displaying antenniform leg length

Enclosure

Phyllocrania paradoxa comes out of Africa and is known as the Ghost Mantis. Fittingly, they feature a very wispy, phantom-esque appearance that is meant to mimic a dead leaf. This species also moves in a rhythmic, swaying fashion (earning them the label, "drunken sailors," by my late grandma) as if the bodily camouflage wasn't sufficient. The range of colors exhibited is broad for a mantis with everything from green, to gold, to brown, to black being fair game. Individuals are surprisingly tolerant of each others' presence and can generally be kept together in groups without harm. These guys are lone partners with Phyllocrania illudens as the only Phyllocrania species in the U.S hobby.

I'm currently keeping each of my two individuals in a 32 oz. deli cup with a cloth lid for ventilation. Their substrate is a layer of paper towel, which I usually keep dry, but moisten about once a week. Besides that, they have a few sticks for climbing on.

A WELCOMED RETURN.

Large individuals

Particularly skittish individual playing dead

Enclosure

Any kind of physical socialization seems like a thing of the past now, which I'm a fan of in many cases, but that also means that events like the one that brought these dazzling arthropods into my life don't exist. A world without gatherings of the fellowships of men is an existence that nobody wants to tread and I sincerely hope that the world can be restored to form sooner rather than later. In the meantime, all of us should take delight in whatever extra time we get with both our human family and the more crawly side of the bunch. 😌

Always look closer and I'll meet you right where I always do - next post. 🙂