Phobaeticus kirbyi

Phobaeticus kirbyi is species of stick insect native to Borneo. It is one of the world's longest insects. The holotype deposited at the Natural History Museum in London measures 32.8 cm (12.9 in) in body length and 54.6 cm (21.5 in) total length, including extended legs. This makes it the third-longest known insect in terms of body length, behind the stick insects Phryganistria "chinensis" (an informal name for a currently undescribed species) with 36.1 cm (14.2 in) and Phobaeticus chani with 35.7 cm (14.1 in). P. "chinensis", P. chani, P. serratipes and Ctenomorpha gargantua exceed it in total length with legs extended (no body lengths of females have been published for the last two, making it unclear if they also surpass P. kirbyi in this measurement).[1][2][3] Recent specimens of P. kirbyi have only reached 28.3 cm (11.1 in) in body length.[2]

Phobaeticus kirbyi
Adult female Phobaeticus kirbyi specimen from the private collection of Andrew Markey, measuring 575mm in total length
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Phasmatodea
Family: Phasmatidae
Genus: Phobaeticus
Species:
P. kirbyi
Binomial name
Phobaeticus kirbyi
Synonyms
  • Baculolonga kirbyi
    (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1907)
  • Pharnacia kirbyi
    (Brunner von Wattenwyl, 1907)
  • Pharnacia pilicornis
    Redtenbacher, 1908
  • Pharnacia sagitta
    Redtenbacher, 1908
  • Phobaeticus kirbiyii
    Seow-Choen, Grinang & Naming, 2004

References
  1. "The discovery of the world's longest insect. Crawling "tree branches"". Google Arts and Culture. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  2. Brock, P.D. 1999. The amazing world of stick and leaf-insects. Cravitz Printing Co., Essex, England.
  3. "World's longest insect revealed". Natural History Museum. 2008-10-16. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
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