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About 100 out of 400 or so Borneo species of the curiously camouflaged stick
insects are recorded from Kinabalu, including the longest insect in the world,
Phoebaeticus serratipes (21 inches) from the tip of the fore-legs to the tip of
the hind-legs, though most average about 30 centimetres (12 inches). Another
species, the spiny Haaniela echinata found in the lowland forests around Poring,
lays the largest known eggs in the insect world, almost a centrimetre (half an
inch) in length, which take up to a year to hatch.
 Stick insects are masters of mimicry and are superbly camouflaged, sometimes
ornamented with tough spines, small rough projections or paler spots that look
like patches of moss. When disturbed their main defence is to remain absolutely
stiff and still, like the sticks they so closely resemble. They are most active
at night, feeding on leaves in the forest.
 Closely related are the beautiful leaf insects, which are just as well
camouflaged, even to patches of “insect damage” along the edge of their “leaf”
wings. Leaf insects were regarded by the ancient Chinese as magical “leaves”
that could walk away from trees when felled; even other insects are fooled by
them, to the extent that leaf-insects in captivity with other herbivores, may
end up being chewed themselves. |
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