# Thought my Peruvian Fern stick was male (Oreophoetes peruana)



## JJO (Mar 29, 2011)

So, I read that if my stick insect's joints turned red when it reached adulthood this meant it was male...He is red and black now (was yellow and black) but has also laid eggs. I'm confused!

(He's missing the ends of his back legs due to a bad moult, I'm surprised he/she survived!)


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## Harbinger (Dec 20, 2008)

Can you post a clear photo of the end of the abdomen like a sideview?
Some females do turn into a red colour morph but gynandromorphs are not unheard of


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## OrigamiB (Feb 19, 2008)

Nice stick you got there  I used to have some but finding food for them is a pain in the arse and almost impossible in winter..... How do you manage?


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## JJO (Mar 29, 2011)

Here he/she is from the side, I did wonder if it was female at one point when I saw how big the abdomen was and saw the back end 'open' once but thought it was just doing a poo...that was a couple of weeks ago when there were no eggs

OrigamiB, I bought a fern back in October, it lives inside and has been fine so far. I'm not sure if it had pesticide on it because a few of my stick insects died, could have been due to bad moults though. There is a lot of fern close to where I live too but I'm waiting for summer as it's all brown at the moment...












Also, check out my baby who hatched yesterday (from some eggs I bought on Ebay)


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## JJO (Mar 29, 2011)

Haha, what a conincidence...Just after I posted I checked she was settled back in (pretty sure it's a she now) and she appears to be laying an egg. I got a photo just before my camera ran out of battery! 

A nice surprise 

sorry it's blurry!


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## mort13 (Sep 20, 2010)

Wow,very nice sticks you have. :2thumb:


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