This Aussie bug is breaking records — and possibly a few branches.
Scientists have discovered a hefty new species of stick insect in a remote Australian rainforest, and it could be the heaviest ever found in the country.
The little bugger, of the new Acrophylla alta species, weighs 1.55 ounces – about the weight of a golf ball – and is 15.75 inches long.
Experts are surprised by how unusually heavy the creature is, which was discovered in the town of Millaa Millaa in Queensland’s Atherton Tablelands.
“There are longer stick insects out there [in the region], but they’re fairly light bodied,” Angus Emmott of James Cook University, who helped identify the species, said in a release on the school’s website.
“From what we know to date, this is Australia’s heaviest insect.”
Its heaviness could be a product of an evolutionary response.
“It’s a cool, wet environment where they live,” Emmott explained.
“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.”
The creatures’ eggs also help to identify it as a new species, since no two species’ eggs are the same.
“Every species of stick insect has their own distinct egg style. 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,” he continued.
The bugger’s elevated habitat is out of reach of scientists, which could be the reason why it eluded being discovered for so long.
“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,” Emmott said.
Two of the species have been sent to the Queensland Museum to aid in future research as well as 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,” he said.
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