A Big Stick Discovered in Queensland Is Australia’s Heaviest Insect

Researchers have found a huge stick insect in a remote area of high-altitude rainforest. It weighs about the same as a golf ball.

Acrophylla alta, the new species of stick insect discovered in remote Queensland. Courtesy of James Cook University

Australia is known for many “big” things—the Big Pineapple, the Big Prawn, and the Big Merino to name but a few—but they’ve now been joined by the big stick insect. And unlike the other examples, this one is alive and in no way man-made.

Two researchers, Ross Coupland and Angus Emmott, have discovered a new species of stick insect, called Acrophylla alta, which weighs in at around 44 grams, or slightly less than a golf ball.