Posted on 08/01/2025 12:36:53 PM PDT by Red Badger
A JCU researcher has helped discover a new species of stick insect in the Atherton tablelands. Credit: James Cook University
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James Cook University researcher Professor Angus Emmott helped identify the new Acrophylla alta species and explained that the most surprising feature of this giant stick insect was its weight, which, at around 44 g, is slightly less than a golf ball.
Details of the discovery have been published in the journal Zootaxa.
"There are longer stick insects out there [in the region], but they're fairly light-bodied," he said.
"From what we know to date, this is Australia's heaviest insect."
The eggs of the roughly 40cm-long stick insects were also important for identifying it as a new species, as no two species' eggs are the same.
"Every species of stick insect has their own distinct egg style," stated Prof Emmott.
"They've all got different surfaces and different textures and pitting, and they can be different shapes. Even the caps on them are all very unique."
Prof Emmott and colleagues suspect that one possible reason why this stick insect species was not discovered until now is that its habitat is simply too difficult to access.
"It's restricted to a small area of high-altitude rainforest, and it lives high in the canopy. So, unless you get a cyclone or a bird bringing one down, very few people get to see them," he said.
Prof Emmott further explained that their habitat could also be the reason behind their large body size.
"It's a cool, wet environment where they live," he said.
"Their body mass likely helps them survive the colder conditions, and that's why they've developed into this large insect over millions of years."
Two specimens of the species have now been included in the Queensland Museum to be used by other scientists to help with species identification, with wider implications for ecosystem conservation.
"To conserve any ecosystem, we actually need to know what's there and what makes it tick before we can think about the best ways to conserve it," Prof Emmott said.
More information: Coupland, R.M. et al, A new giant species of Acrophylla Gray, 1835 (Phasmida: Phasmatidae: Phasmatini) from the highlands of the Wet Tropics, Queensland, Australia., Zootaxa (2025). DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5647.4.4
Journal information: Zootaxa
Provided by James Cook University
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Fixed.
As if these "scientists" actually intended to DO any conservation.
Expect to hear about a native person from that part of the world, being stopped by American TSA “wanders, as this person tries to smuggle a couple of Stick Bugs into the country for immediate sale to private pet collectors.
There are some bug, snake and spider lovers, for whom money is no object of concern. They want to be the first in their Blog Group to boast of owning something exotic and rare, no matter how repulsive it may appear to average people.
I wonder how closely related it is to the critically endangered Lord Howe/Ball’s Pyramid stick insect?
Which brings up the question, how do they reproduce?
Rub two sticks together?
That’s foreplay...........
LOL.
But not if they follow through. “Baby you can light my fire...”
“Baby you can light my fire...
Try to set the night on fire...”
Then the male sticks it in.
By coincidence we had something similar today on our UTV windshield. We were in the forest working and decided to take a break. I noticed what looked like a piece of grass on the windshield. Then it started to move. Upon close inspection it had legs and little antennas. It was cute. About half inch long.
I occasionally wonder the same thing about two obese people.
In keeping up Australian tradition, I would guess these Walking Sticks can also kill a person?
Are you an entomologist, a hobbyist or a genius?
Poisonous, venomous or toxic. Count on it.
Yeahhh...I can see myself dropping one those down the back of Hillary’s pantsuit...Sweet!
Not an entomologist. Certainly not a genius! Hobbyist insofar as FReeper SunkenCiv (and many others) keep us posted on all sorts of new developments in history, archeology, natural history, etc. I’m certain anything I learned about the Lord Howe/Ball’s Pyramid stick insect I first learned on FreeRepublic! 🙂
That thing is totally camouflaged in its environment....
:^) Thanks BLS! Somewhere in 1st or 2nd grade, a classmate asked our teacher what kind of diet a walking stick needed. That was the first time I’d ever heard of such a critter. I didn’t see my first one (and know it, anyway) until my late teens, when some rental property my folks owned was getting repaired (tenants started it on fire) and there were a bunch of walking sticks wandering around on the outside walls, for some reason.
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