Meet Australia’s Mysterious New Giant Stick Insect: As Long as a Ruler and Heavier Than You’d Expect!
“Every species of stick insect has their own distinct egg style,” Emmott said. “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.”
Two females of the species have since been found, but no males have been located yet due to their elusive nature.
“I think you could spend a long time looking for one and not find one,” Emmott told the Australian Broadcasting Company.
This discovery has also reignited conversations about forest conservation and its importance for the field of science.
Forest Conversation And Future Species Discoveries
Discovering Acrophylla alta highlighted how little is still known about Earth’s rainforests. If such a large species of insect could remain hidden until now, what else might be waiting out there?
“Canopies are not well studied, so there’s a chance there are many more species in the canopy than we can even imagine,” said Peter Valentine, a former chair of the Wet Tropics Management Authority. “The other element of this is the more we can learn, the better hope there is that we’ll be able to protect these marvelous natural places.”
Professor Angus Emmott/James Cook UniversityThe stick insect measured 15.75 inches and weighed around 1.5 ounces.
As the new study illustrates, scientists still don’t even know every species out there. That, as Emmott said, could be a very real concern:
“The scary thing is we may be losing species before we even know they exist.”
After learning about the previously unknown stick insect that was just identified in Australia, read about the Asian giant hornet. Then, meet the damselfly, your new favorite insect.
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