# Two new stick insect species found in Queensland

> Australian researchers discover what was thought to be one species is actually five, with major conservation implications.
- Title: Two new stick insect species found in Queensland | Shortify
- Summary: Australian researchers discover what was thought to be one species is actually five, with major conservation implications. Australian researchers identified…
- Keywords: anchiale robusta, anchiale mabiensis, stick insects, queensland, species discovery, conservation, insect diversity, news, world, Two, stick, insect
- Source: the Guardian — https://theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/sep/22/two-new-australian-stick-insect-species-found-queensland
- Published: 2026-09-21T15:00:35+00:00
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: anchiale robusta, anchiale mabiensis, stick insects, queensland, species discovery, conservation, insect diversity, news, world
## Hidden in plain sight
Australian researchers have identified two new large stick insect species in far north Queensland, described in a study published in Austral Entomology. One species, Anchiale robusta, was long popular with enthusiasts but has now been revealed as a case of mistaken identity.
## How the mistake was discovered
Dr Braxton Jones of the University of Sydney led the study. The team combined DNA analysis, museum collections, citizen science records and field surveys. They found individuals that looked morphologically different and lived in different habitats, revealing the misidentification.

> When we went out into the field, and we saw a whole bunch of different individuals that looked morphologically different, and they were also living in … different habitats, that was our first hint that there was a bit more of a complicated story here.
## Anchiale robusta details
Anchiale robusta females grow to a body length of twelve to sixteen centimetres; males reach nine to ten centimetres. Their wings are mostly black but some have a little purple on the underside of their hindwing. Females are too heavy with eggs to fly.

> Males are always smaller than females, it's incredibly rare for a female to be able to still fly because they are quite heavy with … eggs.
## The second species
Anchiale mabiensis lives in the critically endangered Mabi rainforest of Queensland's Atherton tablelands. Females of the species are about eleven to twelve centimetres long. The eggs have an unusual structural lid that detaches when the insects hatch.
## Five species, not two
The research revealed that what were once considered two species are in fact five species in habitats stretching from northern New South Wales into tropical north Queensland. This finding has important conservation implications because the species are found in smaller habitat ranges than previously thought.
## More work ahead
Despite Anchiale insects being among the most documented stick insects on citizen science platforms, Dr Jones said there is much still unknown about them. The study identified another probable new species in Cape York, but more specimens are needed for confirmation.

> there's so much we don't know about them.
## Key takeaway

Australian researchers identified two new stick insect species in far north Queensland, revealing that what was considered one species is actually five, with conservation implications for smaller habitat ranges.