New supersized stick insect discovered in Australia

A newly discovered stick insect has surprised experts with it size and weight, which they say could make it heaviest insect in Australia.

The 40cm-long insect, which has been called Acrophylla alta, weighs almost as much as a golf ball.

Scientists think it is likely heavier than the giant burrowing cockroach, which until now was thought to be the heaviest.

It was found in the mountainous Atherton tablelands in north Queensland.

How was the giant stick insect discovered?

James Cook University researcher Professor Angus Emmott said it was actually a picture posted on social media that alerted the team to the fact that a stick insect of this size might exist.

The picture was sent to Ross Coupland a co-author on the study and he "immediately thought that it might be something new".

They spent many nights of searching, before finding one but it was so high up that they had to use a long stick to get it down.

They took it to a nearby home to study it further, and after it had laid eggs they were able to see that they were different to those laid by other stick insect species.

This confirmed their belief that this was a new species that hadn't been discovered before.

The Atherton Tablelands in Queensland has a lot of rainforest habitat

Emmott thinks one reason for this could be because its habitat was too hard to access, saying: "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."

It could also help explain why they are so much larger than other species, as their size could help them survive the cold conditions in the "cool, wet environment where they live".

The team have published the discovery in the Zootaxa journal.

How significant is this discovery?

The next step for the research team will be trying to finding a male so they can understand more about the species.

But so far this has been proving difficult, because they tend to be significantly smaller than females, and have a very different appearance.

One way they might find one is if they manage to see it mating with a female in the wild.

The new species is so large its body is larger than some of the tree's branches

This discovery is very significant, as it helps fill a gap in knowledge about Australia's biodiversity.

Some experts have estimated that up to 70% of Australian insect species are currently undescribed.

Through future surveys the team could help improve the scientific understanding of how many of these insects there are, where they can be found, and any potential threats the species face.