Giant 40cm walking stick insect discovered in Australia

Barcelona"So far we know it's the heaviest insect in Australia." Australian scientists have discovered a new species of giant walking stick insect (Acrophylla alta) which weighs 44 grams, about the same as a golf ball, and is 40 centimeters long. James Cook University professor Angus Emmott suggested the insect's size could be an evolutionary response to the "cold and wet" habitat of the Atherton Plateau, located in northern Australia and about 50 kilometers southwest of the city of Cairns, where it was found.

The role of body weight

"Their body mass probably helps them survive in colder conditions, so they could have evolved into a large insect over millions of years," says Emmott. This way, they could have grown larger and larger to adapt to the tropical environment.

And how is it possible that they had not been discovered until now? The professor believes that the remote location in which their evolution took place has been the main obstacle to their not being identified earlier. "They are restricted to a small area of tropical rainforest at high altitude. So, unless there is a cyclone, very few people get to see them," he said. The eggs of these stick insects have also been important in identifying them as a new species, the professor stressed.

According to the website of Guinness Book of RecordsThe heaviest insect on record is a giant, lobster-like weta endemic to New Zealand, which weighed 71 grams.