Scientists discovered the world's longest insect

[Saifullah Sani]

Scientists in China believe that they have discovered the world's longest insect – which measures over half a metre.
The new species of stick insect measures 62.4 centimeters precisely and belongs to the genus Phryganistria, the scientists say.

Zhao Li from the Insect Museum of West China, who discovered the insect, said he had been hunting the insect for years.

Local farmers had told him of a "huge insect" as thick an adult's index finger.

"I was collecting insects on a 1,200-meter-tall mountain in Guangxi's Liuzhou City [when] a dark shadow appeared in the distance, which looked like a tree twig," Zhao told Xinhua.

"As I went near, I was shocked to find the huge insect's legs were as long as its body,” he told China’s state media outlet Xinhua.

http://www.independent.ie/world-new...hich-measures-over-half-a-metre-34691270.html