Supersized stick insect discovered in high-altitude trees in north Queensland
The 40cm-long new species, named Acrophylla alta, was found in the high altitudes of the Atherton tablelands in north Queensland – and scientists said the habitat could be part of the reason for its large size.
A peer-reviewed study documenting the discovery, published in Zootaxa journal, noted the stick insect was likely heavier than the giant burrowing cockroach, which is endemic to Queensland and is at present the heaviest insect in Australia.
James Cook University researcher Prof Angus Emmott said a social media post helped with the discovery.
Emmott said his co-author on the study, Ross Coupland, was sent a photo of a stick insect and 'immediately thought that it might be something new'.
After many nights of searching, Emmott and Coupland found a big female between Millaa Millaa and Mount Hypipamee. The insect was so high up that they had to use a long stick to get it down.
As soon as Coupland saw the female up close, he was positive it was a new species of stick insect. The pair took it to Emmott's Atherton tablelands home for further study.
They kept the female in a cage, fed it and then collected its eggs.
'With stick insects, the eggs are very diagnostic, and so every different species has slightly different eggs,' Emmott said.
Emmott said he believed the species had not been discovered earlier as its habitat was too hard to access.
'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 in a statement.
But the habitat could also explain why the stick insect is larger, he said, saying the body mass could help them survive the cold conditions in the 'cool, wet environment where they live'.
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The next step in identifying more about the species is finding a male, which is proving difficult, and not just because they are as thin as a stick.
Male stick insects tend to be significantly smaller and visually distinct from females that in other cases pairs have been described not only as different species, but different from a different genus altogether.
'You really need to find the male copulating with the female,' Emmott said.
'You know what it is then, and you collect the eggs and you can actually ascertain that they're one of the same thing.'
– with AAP
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