Critically Endangered
Peruphasma schultei
Peruphasma schultei
Peruphasma schultei is an insect in the family Pseudophasmatidae (order Phasmida), recorded as Critically Endangered.
Appearance
In Peru they are only known to exist in a region of less than 5 hectares, usually on volcanoes or mountains, but since their discovery they have become increasingly popular as pets worldwide due to their unusual colouration and they are now bred regularly in captivity.
A large and compact species, females can reach 5.5 cm (2.2 in) and are larger than males, that measure 3.8 to 4.3 cm (1.5 to 1.7 in).
Range and habitat
P. Schultei has been found in regions like the Cerro Casapita, that consists of grasslands and other vegetation the species is known to live in. The species best thrives in grassland and forest habitats, however they cannot handle pasturelands. Peruphasma schultei, known as the black beauty stick insect and the golden-eyed stick insect, is a phasmid found in the Cordillera del Condor region of northern Peru.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet
In the wild the insect feeds on Schinus plants, but will feed on privet, Aucuba japonica and honeysuckle in captivity.
In crisis
The insect is listed on the IUCN Red List as critically endangered and was last updated in May 2018. Since then, their population has been actively decreasing. While no direct conservation efforts have been made for the species themselves, they are known to inhabit at least three known protected areas that were created for the preservation of the endangered Marañon poison frog.
Multiple threats to Peruphasma schultei are the result of human activities. There are also natural threats from wildfires.
Peruphasma schultei is Critically Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Peruphasma schultei, Wikidata item Q684212. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
