Newly discovered insect breaks size record

A creepy crawly new to science has been named the world’s longest insect after being detected in a forest in Borneo.
The stick insect, named Chan’s megastick, Phobaeticus chani, measures 22.3 inches (56.6cm) and beat the previous record holder - Phobaeticus serratipes, a close relative - by less than half an inch (1cm).
It is going on show in London’s Natural History Museum and it also boasts the longest body, excluding the legs, at 14 inches (35.7cm), beating Phobaeticus kirbyi by slightly more than an inch (2.9cm). "We’ve known about both the previous record holders for over 100 years, so it’s extraordinary an even bigger species has only just been discovered,’ said Dr George Beccaloni, curator of stick-insects and their relatives at the Natural History Museum.
There are about 3,000 known species of stick-insect, mainly in the tropics and subtropics. Only three specimens of the new insect, reported in the journal Zootaxa, have been found, all from the Malaysian state of Sabah on the island of Borneo.

Comments

[Quinton]

it is another breathtaking demonstration of the duality of man, that a leading scientist can "marvel at the discovery" of something and promptly kill it, stretch it out and put it in a frame....

[JT]

If there are only 3 specimens found and they clearly have one dead for exhibit leaving 2 behind, not a lot of hope for the breed is there???

[Brien Comerford]

The omnipotent and benevolent Creator created all creatures great and small and each and every one of them has a niche to fill in the grand scheme of things.

[youtube video]

thanxx ;)