KeeprHusbandry You're a Pro? Click here to meet Rex
Atlas / Library / Phylliidae / Philippine Leaf Insect
IntermediateNocturnal · sleeping now
Phylliidae

Philippine Leaf Insect

Phyllium philippinicumตั๊กแตนใบไม้

Part of this is not on the page we cite. We opened it on 10 Aug 2026 and some of the degrees above are not stated there. The values above may still be right, but we cannot show you where they came from, and nobody here has checked them against a second source. Anything about a sick animal goes to a qualified exotic vet, not to a page. xoticbugs.com

Photograph: Drägüs · CC BY

Photographed by an observer on iNaturalist and published under a Creative Commons licence; the photographer and the licence are named under the image. It is not an animal of ours, and no animal was handled by us to produce it.

14:00
Day

Drag the sun. Philippine Leaf Insect is nocturnal, so what it is doing changes with the light.

Arboreal · temperate · humidFrom the sheet: 20–28°C, humidity 70–80%

The way of life is written in this sheet, word for word. The climate words summarise the two figures above them, they do not add to them.

National law is not global, and we hold no national wildlife law for any country, Thailand included. Check your own authority before buying or selling.

Check your setup against this sheet I keep one 123 plants usable with this species
Back to the globe My keep

https://keepr.pet/husbandry/en/phyllium-philippinicum

‹ All husbandry guides
Temperature20–28 °C
Humidity70–80 %
Enclosure20×20×30

The numbers

Temperature

152025303540 °C
20–28°Ambient

One ambient band, 20–28°C. This sheet states no warm side, no cool side and no night figure, so none are shown. Same scale on every sheet here, so two species compare by eye.

The sheet states20-28°C

Humidity

70–80%Target RH

The sheet states70-80% with ventilation

Identity

Adult size

1.75 m9–10 cm
1520100400 cm
9–10 cmNose to tail, adult

The size the sheet states for a grown animal.

Why

Two drawings, because they answer two questions. The silhouette is at true scale against a 1.75 m person: it says how big this animal actually is, which no number does for someone who has never seen one. The bar under it is logarithmic and shared by every sheet here, so a 2 cm isopod and a 4 m python both stay readable on the same axis and two species can be compared at a glance.

Order / Family
Phasmatodea
Origin
IUCN / CITES
Not evaluated; CITES not yet in our data
Difficulty
Intermediate
Commonality
Common (best beginner leaf insect)
Adult size
F ~9–10 cm broad leaf-shape; M smaller, winged
Lifespan
F ~5–7 mo adult; total ~9–12 mo
Growth rate
Medium
Activity & niche
Nocturnal-leaning · Arboreal leaf-mimic browser
Temperament
Very calm, slow; delicate
Venom / defense
Harmless; pure leaf camouflage; sways like a leaf

Enclosure and conditions

Enclosure

20 cm30 cm
warm hideclimbing branchwatersubstrate
50100150200 cm
20 × 20 × 30 cmWidth × depth × height
4dm² of floor
Warm side: not in our dataUVB: not in our data

Drawn from the stated numbers. Only what the sheet states is drawn inside.

Why

The rectangle carries the exact width-to-height ratio of the figures above it, and the ruler under it places that width on the 0–250 cm scale every sheet here shares, so two species still compare at a glance. Nothing is added that the sheet does not name: a lamp drawn on a sheet that never mentions one would be invented equipment. What the sheet leaves out is listed rather than left blank, because an empty tank reads as « none needed ».

The sheet states20×20×30 cm mesh (H ≥3× body)

Temperature
20–28°C
Humidity
70–80% with ventilation
Min. enclosure
20×20×30 cm mesh (H ≥3× body)
Substrate
Coco fibre; mist for humidity
Hides / decor / water
Upright leafy sprigs to perch/moult; mist 1–2×/day

What your climate adds

This sheet states a range to hold. Your local climate decides how much work holding it is. Pick the nearest city: nothing is sent anywhere, the choice stays in this browser.

Diet

Feeding rhythm

Food stays available

The sheet states food is always present rather than given on a cycle, so there is no interval to draw.

The sheet statesBramble (staple), oak, guava, rose; prefers older darker leaves · Fresh leaves always available; replace ~weekly

Staple food
Bramble (staple), oak, guava, rose; prefers older darker leaves
Feeding frequency
Fresh leaves always available; replace ~weekly
Supplements
None; fresh host leaves only

Behaviour and handling

HandlingVery delicate; minimise handling; support body
CommunalYes: gregarious; keep in groups
Defense / stress signsRocks like a wind-blown leaf; freezes; may drop

Reproduction

Life course

Day 0Hatch
0.4–0.6 yrLifespan in care
0.4 yrMinimum commitment
Sexual maturityNot in our data

Read from the lifespan and maturity the sheet states, for animals in care and not in the wild.

Why

The minimum commitment is the low end of that lifespan, and the reproductive window is what is left after maturity: both are subtractions on stated figures, not figures of their own.

Reproduction
Eggs dropped; OFTEN PARTHENOGENETIC in culture (mostly F); hatch ~4–6 mo

Common health problems

Common health issues
SignsMismoult if too dry (very moult-sensitive), dehydration, leg loss
Red flags / quarantine
SignsBrowning edges, shrivel, mould, failure to moult

Good to know

  • Mimics a leaf down to fake bite-marks and veins on its flattened body

What it needs

Enclosure at least 20 × 20 × 30 cmbecause enclosure — 20×20×30 cm mesh (H ≥3× body)
A thermometerbecause temp — 20-28°C
A hygrometerbecause humidity — 70–80% with ventilation

Every line above is deduced from a value this sheet states, and names which one. Nothing here is a general recommendation.

Sources

xoticbugs.comkeepinginsects.com

Others in this group

Indian / Laboratory Stick InsectCarausius morosusGiant Prickly / Spiny Leaf InsectExtatosoma tiaratumVietnamese / Annam Stick InsectMedauroidea extradentataMalayan Jungle NymphHeteropteryx dilatataPink-Winged Stick InsectSipyloidea sipylusSabah Thorny Stick InsectAretaon asperrimusThorny Devil Stick InsectEurycantha calcarataBlack Beauty Stick InsectPeruphasma schultei

What this sheet states

100%
TemperatureHumidityEnclosure sizeActivityOriginDietSourcesUVB

Every field this product runs on is stated here. That is not a claim that the values are right: it says what the sheet states, not whether it is true. Whether a human has read it is the badge at the top of this page.

UVB is measured but does not count: it is absent from 421 of 678 sheets, and on most of them that is not a gap, since a nocturnal snake's sheet has no reason to state a UV index. Counting it would call the library incomplete without cause.