Entomologists have described two previously unrecognized species of Anchiale — a genus of large, winged stick insects — from tropical Queensland, and restored a third to full species status.
Anchiale mabiensis, paratype male. Image credit: Ross M. Coupland.
“The genus Anchiale currently comprises a total of 16 species living across most of the tropical Australasian regions, with the tentative inclusion of French Polynesia,” said Dr. Braxton Jones, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Sydney, and colleagues.
“This geographic range is relatively atypical for Australian stick insects, which commonly exhibit endemism across many genera.”
“Although catalogued in Australian and global stick insect compilations, the Australian Anchiale species have not undergone a comprehensive revision, despite being among the most frequently observed stick insects.”
In new research, Dr. Jones and colleagues revised the Australian members of the Anchiale genus.
They examined specimens held in museum collections and gathered in the field. They also analyzed mitochondrial DNA from 32 Anchiale specimens.
They identified five Anchiale species, two of which are entirely new to science.
“Taxonomy is often a bit like detective work,” Dr. Jones said.
“Even among some of Australia’s most photographed and frequently reported insects, we’re still finding species that have escaped scientific recognition.”
Anchiale robusta, male. Image credit: Paul D. Brock.
One of the new insects, Anchiale mabiensis, is a small, fairly slender species, with adult females about 11.5 cm (4.5 inches) long.
The insect has so far been recorded only in the Mabi forest of Queensland, and has been found feeding on gray sassafras (Doryphora aromatic).
Eggs of Anchiale mabiensis are distinctive: brown and less shiny than those of other Australian Anchiale, with two to three rings on the lid.
This is the first time such rings have been recorded in stick insects, or indeed any orthopteroid order.
The other species, Anchiale robusta, is larger, with females reaching up to 16.2 cm (6.4 inches).
It lives in Queensland’s coastal rainforest from Tully to north of Cooktown, a range of at least 450 km (280 miles).
It feeds on a variety of plants, often acacias. Females can put on a defensive display, flashing dark, patterned hindwings.
The authors also resolved long-running confusion over the identity of a species called Anchiale albopunctata.
Found in central Queensland, this stick insect had been folded into another species, Anchiale briareus, for more than a century.
The researchers restored it to separate status on the basis of both anatomy and genetic evidence.
“These findings demonstrate the importance of protecting threatened ecosystems and documenting Australia’s extraordinary biodiversity before we lose species without us having even discovered them,” Dr. Jones said.
A paper on the findings was published today in the journal Austral Entomology.
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Braxton R. Jones et al. 2026. A Revision of Australian Anchiale Stål, 1875 (Phasmida: Phasmatidae), with the Description of Two New Species. Austral Entomology 65 (4): e70096; doi: 10.1111/aen.70096
