Two species of colourful stick insects discovered in Madagascar

TWO new species of stick insect have been found in the far north of Madagascar. They were previously thought to be examples of two existing giant stick insect species.

Achrioptera maroloko (pictured) and Achrioptera manga were discovered when Sven Bradler at the University of Göttingen, Germany, and his colleagues analysed the insects’ DNA. They found that the species are in fact more closely related to other types of Madagascan stick insects than to Achrioptera species elsewhere (Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, doi.org/c4nv).

Named for their brightness – in the Malagasy language, the word maroloko means colourful – Achrioptera maroloko males develop their vivid colouration at sexual maturity. Before then, they resemble twigs. The team believes A. maroloko’s unusual colours may attract females or deter predators.