Museum notes discovery of world's longest insect
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Oct 17, 2008, 12:02:02 AM10/17/08
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Museum notes discovery of world's longest insect
By RAPHAEL G. SATTER,
AP
Posted: 2008-10-16 18:48:51
LONDON (AP) - Nearly the length of a human arm, a recently identified
stick bug from the island of Borneo is the world's longest insect,
British scientists said Thursday.
The specimen was found by a local villager and handed to Malaysian
amateur naturalist Datuk Chan Chew Lun in 1989, according to Philip
Bragg, who formally identified the insect in this month's issue of
peer-reviewed journal Zootaxa. The insect was named Phobaeticus chani,
or "Chan's megastick," in Chan's honor.
Paul Brock, a scientific associate of the Natural History Museum in
London unconnected to the animal's discovery said there was no doubt
it was the longest extant insect ever found.
Looking more like a solid shoot of bamboo than its smaller, frailer
cousins, the dull-green insect measures about 22 inches (56.7
centimeters), if its delicate, twig-like legs are counted. There are
14 inches (35.7 centimeters) from the tip of its head to the bottom of
its abdomen, beating the previous record body length, held by
Phobaeticus kirbyi, also from Borneo, by about an inch (2.9
centimeters).
Stick bugs, also known as phasmids, have some of the animal kingdom's
cleverest camouflage. Although some phasmids use noxious sprays or
prickly spines to deter their predators, generally the bugs assume the
shape of sticks and leaves to avoid drawing attention.
"Their main defense is basically hanging around, looking like a twig,"
Brock said. "It will even sway in the wind."
For Bragg, who works as a schoolteacher and catalogues stick bugs as a
hobby, the discovery showed the urgency of conservation work.
"There aren't enough specialists around to work on all the insects in
the world," he said. "There's going to be stuff that's extinct before
anyone gets around to describing it."
The Phobaeticus chani is now a part of the Natural History Museum's
"Creepy Crawlies" gallery. It went on display Thursday.
On the Net:
Natural History Museum: http://www.nhm.ac.uk
Zootaxa: http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the
AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise
distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated
Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
10/16/08 18:46 EDT
By RAPHAEL G. SATTER,
AP
Posted: 2008-10-16 18:48:51
LONDON (AP) - Nearly the length of a human arm, a recently identified
stick bug from the island of Borneo is the world's longest insect,
British scientists said Thursday.
The specimen was found by a local villager and handed to Malaysian
amateur naturalist Datuk Chan Chew Lun in 1989, according to Philip
Bragg, who formally identified the insect in this month's issue of
peer-reviewed journal Zootaxa. The insect was named Phobaeticus chani,
or "Chan's megastick," in Chan's honor.
Paul Brock, a scientific associate of the Natural History Museum in
London unconnected to the animal's discovery said there was no doubt
it was the longest extant insect ever found.
Looking more like a solid shoot of bamboo than its smaller, frailer
cousins, the dull-green insect measures about 22 inches (56.7
centimeters), if its delicate, twig-like legs are counted. There are
14 inches (35.7 centimeters) from the tip of its head to the bottom of
its abdomen, beating the previous record body length, held by
Phobaeticus kirbyi, also from Borneo, by about an inch (2.9
centimeters).
Stick bugs, also known as phasmids, have some of the animal kingdom's
cleverest camouflage. Although some phasmids use noxious sprays or
prickly spines to deter their predators, generally the bugs assume the
shape of sticks and leaves to avoid drawing attention.
"Their main defense is basically hanging around, looking like a twig,"
Brock said. "It will even sway in the wind."
For Bragg, who works as a schoolteacher and catalogues stick bugs as a
hobby, the discovery showed the urgency of conservation work.
"There aren't enough specialists around to work on all the insects in
the world," he said. "There's going to be stuff that's extinct before
anyone gets around to describing it."
The Phobaeticus chani is now a part of the Natural History Museum's
"Creepy Crawlies" gallery. It went on display Thursday.
On the Net:
Natural History Museum: http://www.nhm.ac.uk
Zootaxa: http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the
AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise
distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated
Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
10/16/08 18:46 EDT
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