Bug FAQPrickly Haaniella
Haaniella echinata · Order: Phasmida · Family: Heteropterygidae
Source: Wikipedia
Females grow 9 to 13.5 cm long while males are smaller at 7 to 9.5 cm. They live in low-land tropical rainforests and up to 800 m altitude on northern Borneo, including Brunei and Malaysian Borneo. Their diet includes leaves of bramble, raspberry, hawthorn, oak, ivy, hazel, rhododendron and other plants.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
They are unmistakable by bright turquoise-blue membranes on the leg joints and first abdominal segments, visible even in newborns. Adult males may show turquoise-green instead of blue.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Females reach 9 to 13.5 cm in body length. Males are 7 to 9.5 cm long.
Source: Wikipedia
Is it a pest in the house?
Successful keeping requires medium to large terrariums with plenty of hiding places and a slightly moist substrate for egg laying.
Source: Wikipedia
How to get rid of it
Maintain humidity high and temperature between 20 °C and 25 °C for good health.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
They inhabit tropical lowland rainforests and can be found up to about 800 m elevation, such as around Mount Kinabalu.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
They eat a wide variety of leaves, including those of bramble, raspberry, hawthorn, oak, ivy, hazel, rhododendron and other plants.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Females lay 250 to 300 mg eggs in the soil with an ovipositor; eggs are dark brown and bristly with a flat lid, or lighter with a slightly conical lid.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
They are nocturnal like other Bornean Haaniella species.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
The species is native to the whole northern part of Borneo. Its range includes Brunei and most of Malaysian Borneo.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
After Haaniella scabra, it is the Haaniella species that lives at the highest elevations on Borneo.
Source: Wikipedia
More photos
Questions people ask
What plants do Prickly Haaniella eat?
They feed on leaves of bramble, raspberry, hawthorn, oak, ivy, hazel, rhododendron and similar plants.
Source: Wikipedia
What temperature should I keep them at?
Keep the terrarium between 20 °C and 25 °C (68 °F to 77 °F).
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Heteropterygidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haaniella_echinata
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.