The world's longest insect has been revealed by the Natural History Museum today.

The world's longest insect, a 56.7cm long stick-insect from Borneo, is revealed at the Natural History Museum today.

Datuk Chan Chew Lun donated the spectacular specimen to the Museum and you can see it on display in the galleries from today.

This species is new to science and has recently been named Phobaeticus chani (Chan's Megastick is the common name).
Only 3 specimens
Datuk Chan Chew Lun donates this spectacular specimen to the Museum.

Datuk Chan Chew Lun donates this spectacular specimen to the Museum.

Only three specimens of the new insect have been found so far, all from the Malaysian State of Sabah on the island of Borneo. Datuk Chan obtained the first and largest known specimen (a female) from a local collector. The other two specimens are in collections in Sabah.
Previous record-holders

This specimen is more than 1cm longer than the previous record holder for overall length, which was a stick-insect called Phobaeticus serratipes found in Malaysia and Indonesia.

Not including its legs, Chan's Megastick measures 35.7cm, winning the insect world record for the longest body. It beats the previous title-holder, Phobaeticus kirbyi, from Borneo, by 2.9cm.

'We've known about both of the previous record holders for over a hundred years, so it is extraordinary that an even bigger species has only just been discovered,' said Dr George Beccaloni, stick-insect expert at the Museum.




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