The clever camouflage ability of the leaf beetle is the reason why many people are attracted.
The emerging hobby of the strange creature lovers
If raising insects such as mantises, beetles, butterflies, ants, etc. for ornamental purposes is no longer strange, recently, an emerging “star” has made the community fascinated. strange and curious objects. That is the leaf beetle – “moving leaf”.
The main reason people have to fall in love with and admire this insect is its clever camouflage ability. This insect is even considered a master of camouflage, both in terms of its leaf-like appearance and its ability to “act” to sway like leaves fluttering in the wind.
Leaf beetle (Photo: Flickr)
Mr. Khang (District 6, Ho Chi Minh City) – founder of the Vietnam Mantis Exchange Group said that this hobby is quite new in Vietnam: “I played the mantis first, then I learned about the mantis after 5 years. before. In Vietnam, there are quite a few people who know about it. In the past, I used to learn and gain experience through foreign groups and groups, at that time I didn’t even know what its name was . “
Leaf beetles are taken care of by Khang (Photo: NVCC)
According to Khang’s share, the source of leaf beetles in Vietnam is divided into two types: imported goods and forest goods.
Khang is one of the pioneers in importing leaf beetles to Vietnam: “I usually import goods from abroad, mostly from France and England. This variety is also quite difficult to import, you have to import eggs and wait for them to hatch, so I don’t sell them in bulk, but only those who are really passionate about them will sell them . ” Because of this difficulty, the price of imported leaf beetles is also quite expensive. Khang said that each small one will cost about 400,000 VND, when it is bigger it will cost from 500k to 1 million VND/child, depending on the size.
Leaf beetles caught naturally from the forest in Vietnam are cheaper, but most often die because they are used to eating forest leaves. Moreover, leaf beetles in the forest are also very rare, in danger of being depleted, so Khang does not trade this type.
Leaf beetles of this size will be sold for 400 thousand VND (Photo: NVCC)
If Khang already has quite a bit of experience, Viet Anh (SN 2006, Hanoi) is in the research phase. The boy also knew about leaf beetles from the mantis group: “I saw that forest people caught and sold it, so I was curious and wanted to learn. I like leaf beetle because of its unique shape, I have never seen it. I bought 5 children, the price is 300 – 500 thousand VND / one, depending on the size” .
Viet Anh and one of the leaf beetles are raising.
Is it easy to raise leaf beetles?
Regarding care, Khang said that the leaf beetle does not need to be too fussy: “I just need a net cage, stick a guava branch or a plum branch to make food for the bugs. Change the leaves every few days to keep them from wilting. It is also necessary to spray water from time to time to mist the leaves and keep the bugs moist. If the house has a big cage, people put a guava tree in so they don’t have to worry about the leaves withering . “
Leaf beetles when young.
However, Khang also noted that leaf beetles are difficult to raise because they are somewhat feisty and have a shorter lifespan than mantis: “The lifespan of leaf beetles is quite short, with a sample of 2 years old, a sample of 1-year-old and also a sample of 1 year old. sample only 8 months. The price is expensive so not everyone can play. I mostly sell to photographers or really passionate people . ”
The most obvious example of this insect is not easy to keep is the 5 leaf beetles of Viet Anh are all dead. The boy had to cry to God because he had difficulty taking care of him, especially when he was living in the city. “All 5 animals that I bought have died, partly because of the transportation process, partly because I have no experience in raising them. The most difficult problem for me is the rearing environment. Because leaf beetles only eat a few types of leaves such as guava leaves, rose leaves, …” – Viet Anh said.
The moment the leaf beetle is eating Viet Anh’s jasmine leaves
After the leaf beetle died, Viet Anh kept it as a template
However, because he likes it, Viet Anh will still find a way to raise it, after studying and learning more about this insect. Besides, he also had to consider economic issues: “Compared to mantis, the price of leaf beetle is much more expensive. I’m going to school, so I don’t have much money and besides these two types, I also like to buy and raise some other strange animals. So normally, I often sell plants with my family to have money to buy bugs” .