Tributes flow for Gold Coast developer after death at 39; Giant Qld stick insect ‘Australia’s heaviest’

What could be Australia’s heaviest insect has been discovered in northern Queensland’s high-altitude rainforests, but it’s yet to be named.

The supersized stick insect, about 40 centimetres long, was discovered in Millaa Millaa in the Atherton Tablelands and identified by James Cook University researcher Angus Emmott and wildlife expert Ross Coupland.

“They live high up in the rainforest canopy, and accessing that is almost impossible,” Professor Emmott said. “You’ve got to wait until, for instance, a bird knocks one down or you get a big storm and they get knocked down. It’s very, very hard to find them in situ.”

The female specimen weighed 44 grams, just less than a golf ball, but was significantly heftier than what was considered to be Australia’s heaviest insect, the up-to-30-gram giant wood moth.

“The females have wings, but because of their heavy bodies, they’re not really great flyers,” Emmott said.

The specimen, along with another female, are now in Queensland Museum’s collection.

The next step in identifying and eventually naming the species is finding a male, which is proving difficult – and not just because they are as thin as a stick. Male stick insects tend to be significantly smaller and visually distinct from females – in other cases, pairs have been described not only as different species, but from a different genus altogether.

“You really need to find the male copulating with the female,” Emmott said. “You know what it is then and you collect the eggs.”