Entomologist Joachim Bresseel holds a female Phryganistria heusii yentuensis. At 21 inches long (with legs outstretched), it’s the second largest insect species on Earth. (Credit: Bresseel & Constant, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences) Stick insects have a strange beauty. These slow-moving insects are one of nature's most well-known marvels of camouflage. And their ilk just got a little stranger: entomologists working for the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences have discovered a brand-new species of stick insect nearly two feet long — the second-longest insect ever discovered.
Entomologists struck out to Vietnam’s Tay Yen Tu Nature Reserve to study Phasmatodea — the scientific name for stick insects. These twiggy bugs are poorly studied due, in part, to the difficulty in finding them. Stick insects live in remote locations, are highly camouflaged and are most active at night. However, like many challenges, brute force is a viable solution. Whilst beating ...
