Video: Australia’s biggest stick insect

By AG STAFF 10 March 2014
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Museum Victoria Live exhibits keeper Maik Fiedel describes the Lady Gaga-ntuan stick insect.

Nicknamed ‘Lady Gaga-ntuan’, this specimen, part of the phasmid family, is the latest in only a handful of sightings. First described in 2006, the insect is thought to dwell high up in the canopy of the rainforest, so it was a surprise to find it lower down, within human reach.

“I actually think this is the largest species in the world,” Maik told Australian Geographic. “However, there is yet no officially recorded specimen to back that up. Unfortunately, the one I found is rather small.”