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Supersized stick insect discovered in high-altitude trees in Australia (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 2 days ago by maniacalmanicmania@aussie.zone to c/australia@aussie.zone

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A newly discovered stick insect which weighs slightly less than a golf ball may be the heaviest insect in Australia, scientists say.

The 40cm-long new species, named Acrophylla alta, was found in the high altitudes of the Atherton tablelands in north Queensland – and scientists said the habitat could be part of the reason for its large size.

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[-] AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

With stick insects, the eggs are very diagnostic

Insectology is a weird field...

[-] SaneMartigan@aussie.zone 3 points 1 day ago

"Supersized"? What if all the other stick insects are actually little and this one is regular sized.

[-] PineRune@lemmy.world 23 points 2 days ago

weighs slightly less than a golf ball

I see we are using the American system of measurements here.

[-] maniacalmanicmania@aussie.zone 9 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

It's a weird trick though. As someone whose brain doesn't know what 40 to 45g feels like in weight, it certainly thinks it knows what a golf balls feel like in weight.

The real issue is when they start comparing the weights of things using hippos and the like.

[-] lagoon8622@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 days ago

" is so heavy! It weighs about as much as 13,879.25 elephants!"

[-] x00z@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago

"It weighs 40 to 45g - slightly less than a golf ball - and ..."

[-] maniacalmanicmania@aussie.zone 9 points 2 days ago

You've got the job.

[-] shalafi@lemmy.world 7 points 2 days ago

I have a ruler in my desk partially to train my brain in centimeters. Whipped it out just now.

40cm?!

[-] MrShankles@reddthat.com 13 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

The insect was so high up that they had to use a long stick to get it down

"Want me to climb up to the canopy and see if I can grab it?" "Nah, just hand me that long stick there"

[-] kautau@lemmy.world 6 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I like the idea that it just got stuck high up and they put out a stick and it was like “oh shit, now this I like” and immediately crawled onto a dead stick because it looked similar