Clonaria Conformans – Care Sheet

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The Clonaria Conformans is a stick insect species with the typical appearance of a Phasmid. It has a long, thin body with a green or brown coloration.

This species is native to Thailand and is not that popular as a pet insect yet.

Diet

This species, just like all other stick bug species, is a plant-eater. It is polyphagous, which means that it is not limited to a single or a few food sources.

It can be fed with bramble, raspberry, rose leaves, hawthorn, ivy, hazel, willow, and many more. You can collect leaves from outside, as long as you know they are pesticide-free.

A stick bug will only eat what’s good for them and leave other leaves untouched.

Cage

The cage should have a height of at least 11 inches. The height is important to allow the walking stick to molt properly while dangling upside down from the ceiling.

The enclosure should allow air ventilation through a mesh wall or mesh lid. At least one side of the enclosure should allow air to circulate, one or two sides should be made of glass or plastic. 

The substrate on the floor can be sand, soil, vermiculite, paper towels, or any other suitable substrate.

Temperature

This species thrives at room temperature. Anything between 68° F (= 20° C) at night and 76° F (= 24° C) during the day is perfect. 

Humidity

The Clonaria Conformans do not need extra high humidity as other species do. They do well at 50% – 60% humidity. 

You can spray a fine mist of bottled spray water or dechlorinated tap water into the enclosure once or twice a week.

You can spray the walls, the substrate, and especially the feeder plants to allow your pet insect to stay hydrated by drinking the tiny drops of water from the leaves. 

Appearance

This species is wingless. It looks like a twig and is either green or brown. It camouflages perfectly on trees and bushes. The females are usually around 3.5 inches long and the males are around 2.4 inches. 

Lifespan

This species only has around 2 months until it reaches adulthood. The females have a lifespan of approximately 6 – 7 months and the males live about 5 – 6 months.

Reproduction

The Clonaria Conformans reproduce sexually. That means that both males and females are needed to produce fertilized ova (= eggs) that hatch. 

Ova, Incubation Period

This species has a special way of incubation. The females will glue their own ova onto leaves and in captivity all over the enclosure.

Be careful when you exchange feeding plants because there might be ova stuck on them.

As long as you only keep females, the eggs are not fertilized and cannot hatch. But if you keep both male and female, pay attention on what you throw into your garbage.

The population of this species can grow very quickly and the hatch rate is extremely high, therefore you have to either freeze or burn anything you remove from the tank, just to be sure that you don’t accidentally introduce some new walking stick species to your region. 

The incubation period takes about 3 – 4 weeks. 

Overall Difficulty Rating

The Clonaria Conformans are a very easy species to care for and to handle. They make great beginner pets but are not widely available. Therefore the trickiest part would be to get your hands on this precious species. The rest is easy 🙂

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