Australian stick insect

[arillady]

The very quick reply from the Australian Museum below but without a photo it will be hard:

Hi Patricia,
 
It is a bit difficult without a photo to say what it was – there are several species that would occur in SA which are green and that size, and have spines on them. My best guess is the Red-winged Stick-insect Podocanthus viridiroseus – the hind wings are very bright red, it is large, and has spines on the legs and thorax.
 
Most stick insects are rarely seen unless you are looking hard for them and know where to look, so it doesn’t surprise me that you haven’t seen your one before. They are experts at remaining unseen.
 
cheers,
 
Dave.

[Lesley Cox]

Vivienne and I were in one of the cheap shops looking for wrapping paper. I spotted a box of "educational" posters. The one on the front was photos of "zoo animals" on a white back ground, including cheetah (labelled leopard); tortoise (labelled turtle); gazelle (labelled deer) and female gorilla (labelled chimpanzee).

That's what you get from going "cheap" Anthony.

[Anthony Darby]

A four litre plastic plant pot and tray for $3 ain't bad. Expensive by UK standards, but better than the hardware shops in Auckland. In the UK we have pound shops where everything costs £1. I was quickly relieved of the thought that a dollar shop meant the same here.

[Lesley Cox]

Well we did have $2 shops and everything WAS $2. They have all now become $2 and $5 shops!

[Anthony Darby]

Podacanthus viridiroseus is quite large, but the red covers the entire wings.

[arillady]

That youtube video looks awfully like the stick insect I saw, colour and size and sleekness but I wish I could see the wings out. I guess they only put their wings out to warn off predators. I have never thought about keeping them as pets till I saw this one and did some googling.
The red patches were bright clear red - no blue in the red at all.
Thanks Anthony for posting the video link.