Nature & Environment

World's second longest insect discovered

By T.K. Randall
December 4, 2014 ·  15 comments

Stick insects are incredibly well camouflaged in trees and bushes. Image Credit: CC BY 2.0 Thomas Brown Perfectly adapted to blend in to its surrounding habitat, the new species is part of a group of leaf-eating insects that look so much like sticks and twigs that it is very difficult to even spot them at all.

Known as Phryganistria heusii yentuensis, it was first identified by researchers from the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) during a recent expedition to Vietnam in which they discovered a number of new insect species. To find them the team used a technique known as 'beating' which involves placing a large bed sheet on the ground beneath some foliage and then unceremoniously whacking the bushes with a large stick. Many species of insect play dead when disturbed and will simply fall on to the sheet.

Vietnam itself is part of the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot, a region filled with unique plants and animals that can be found nowhere else on the planet.

It is hoped that the research team, working in conjunction with Vietnamese biologists, will be able to discover many more new species of insects in the years to come.

Source: Wired | Comments (15)

Tags: Stick Insect, Vietnam