''Phobaeticus kirbyi'' is species of

stick insect The Phasmatodea (also known as Phasmida or Phasmatoptera) are an order of insects whose members are variously known as stick insects, stick bugs, walkingsticks, stick animals, or bug sticks. They are also occasionally referred to as Devil's da ...

native to

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

. It is one of the world's longest insects. The

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

deposited at the

Natural History Museum in London The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum and ...

measures in body length and 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 In taxonomy, an undescribed taxon is a taxon (for example, a species) that has been discovered, but not yet formally described and named. The various Nomenclature Codes specify the requirements for a new taxon to be validly described and named. U ...

) with and ''

Phobaeticus chani ''Phobaeticus chani'', the Chan's megastick (also known by its synonym ''Sadyattes chani''), is a species of stick insect in the tribe Pharnaciini, native to the southeast Asian island of Borneo. It is one of the longest insects in the world and ...

'' with . ''P. "chinensis"'', ''P. chani'', '' P. serratipes'' and ''

Ctenomorpha gargantua ''Ctenomorpha gargantua'', the gargantuan stick insect, is a species of stick insect that is endemic to rainforests in northeastern Queensland, Australia. It is Australia's longest stick insect and among the world's longest stick insects, with ...

'' 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).Brock, P.D. 1999. ''The amazing world of stick and leaf-insects''. Cravitz Printing Co., Essex, England. Recent specimens of ''P. kirbyi'' have only reached in body length.

References

External links

Phasmid Study Group: ''Phobaeticus kirbyi''

Phasmida Species File: ''Phobaeticus kirbyi''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1938385 Phasmatidae Endemic fauna of Borneo Taxa named by Carl Brunner von Wattenwyl Insects described in 1907 Phasmatodea of Malesia