Entomologist Joachim Bresseel Holds a Large Stick Insect
Southeast Asia is a center of biodiversity for stick insects of the order Phasmida. The creation of new preserves in Vietnam and an interest in documentation has led to an increase in biodiversity studies. New species and subspecies of Phasmida have been described a recent study*. An individual of the subspecies
Phryganistria heusii yentuensis measuring 32 cm in length and 54 cm with legs spread represents the second longest insect ever recorded. These insects are herbivores that hide in trees by day and feed by night.
*Joachim Bresseel, Jérôme Constant. 2014. Giant Sticks from Vietnam and China, with three new taxa including the second longest insect known to date. European Journal of Taxonomy 104:1–38.
http://dx.doi.org/10.5852/ejt.2014.104
About jjneal
Jonathan Neal is a retired Associate Professor of Entomology at Purdue University and author of the textbook, Living With Insects (2010).
This blog is a forum to communicate about the intersection of insects with people and policy. This is a personal blog.
The opinions and materials posted here are those of the author and are in no way connected with those of my employer.
Living With Insects Blog 
These are one of the darlings of the insect world. The first (so far only) one we have seen was found in Waubonsie State Park in the Loess Hills of Iowa. We were on a hike in Autumn and my son, then about 4, picked up a stick insect. How he saw this little guy in the brown grass on the side of the trail is still a mystery.
Thanks for the post!