Giant Acropylla: A Squirrel-Sized Monster (6 photos)

The giant alpine stick insect is one of the largest insects on the planet and the largest insect in Australia. This stick insect can reach a length of 28 centimeters, and weigh just under 50 grams. It's logical to expect such a large insect to be easy to find, hard to lose, and impossible to forget. However, strangely, it was only discovered in February of last year.





Maybe we should put it back, huh?

First of all, because a stick insect, even one this large, behaves like a typical stick insect. Acrophyllous stick insects sit practically motionless for hours, only moving in time with the wind and the swaying leaves. Spotting even a common stick insect is difficult enough, but acrophyllous stick insects have complicated the task further by choosing extremely specific habitats.



Stay still like a stick insect, don't move like a stick.

All encounters with giant acrophyllous stick insects (and at the time of writing, there were five!) occurred at altitudes ranging from 900 to 3,000 meters above sea level, and the stick insects themselves were accidentally knocked from the trees by one means or another. Apparently, they live exclusively in the crowns of tall eucalyptus trees at heights of 30-60 meters above the ground. So it's not surprising that a person might stumble upon them only by chance.





A beautiful picture of a beautiful stick insect!

Especially since they don't need to move much. Stick insects feed on the leaves of the trees they live in, their camouflage works perfectly, and even if it doesn't, the stick insect will simply spread its crimson wings, appearing even larger. Not every bird would dare eat such a giant!



Give me the flashlight, I'm asking nicely for now.

It's believed they became so large and heavy to survive in specific conditions. Acrophyllae live in highlands, where nights can be quite cold, and even in Australia, snow sometimes falls. To avoid hypothermia in such conditions, acrophyllae have increased in size. After all, the larger the body, the slower it cools, which helps cold-blooded insects survive short-term drops in temperature. Other aspects of the life of high-altitude acrophyllae are still unknown. But if they are similar to their closest relatives—other members of the genus—then their reproductive method clearly deserves attention. After mating, females literally bombard the ground with thousands of their eggs, which at first glance seems pointless.



Alien stick insect eggs.

But they don't do this without a reason. Stick insects have formed an alliance with ants: each of their eggs is covered in a soft, nutritious protein shell, which attracts the attention of the little insects and compels them to carry the eggs to the anthill. In the end, it's a win-win: the adult stick insects don't have to worry about their offspring, and the ants get a little food in return. But at the same time, it was precisely this bombardment of the surface with their offspring that helped humanity discover the stick insects. Having stumbled upon the eggs, scientists quickly realized they were dealing with a new species of insect, as each stick insect species has its own unique egg shape.



Now that's a treat I'm bringing home!

After 2-3 weeks, the eggs hatch, and the still-small giant stick insects leave the nest. The ants leave them alone, as the insects are permeated with the nest's scent and don't attract attention. After drying out a bit and gaining strength on the nest's surface, the ant-raised stick insects rise into the air to disappear into the foliage once and for all.