Malayan Jungle Nymph - Heaviest Stick Insect In The World

There are many species of insects out in the wild and with such a tiny size in comparison to us humans, they are often ignored. Among these insects will be the Malayan Jungle Nymph which is known to be the heaviest stick insect in the world.

Malayan jungle nymph or its scientific name Heteropteryx dilatata belongs to the Pulchriphyllium species and can be found in the tropical rainforest of Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Thailand.

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This insect can grow up to 18cm in size and there has been a record of the female species measuring 15 cm in length and weighing as heavy as 50g. This insect is active at night time and highly depends on the green surrounding to camouflage itself.

The Malayan Jungle Nymph is well known all over the world and is often kept in most zoology institutions as well as pets for insect enthusiasts. It has a beautiful green to slightly yellowish color.

About Malayan Jungle Nymph

Most of the females are often bigger in size than the male as well as not having any wings for it to fly, unlike the male. It also has spikes along the sides of its body including the stomach for the grip.

The female also has what's called an ovipositor which is at the end of its abdomen to place its eggs in the ground. The male is usually brown in color with white/grey spots on its body. The male's body size is also relatively smaller than its counterparts with wings for it to fly.

It is known as a stick insect due to how it looks from the front and this nymph will shed its skin in its growth phase until they reach adulthood. When threatened, they will raise their back legs and release a hissing sound, and will squeeze their spiky legs on the victim.

This species also produce some of the biggest eggs in the insect world measuring 1.3 cm in length. The Malayan jungle nymph is a herbivore and often eats the leaves around. They also like to play dead than be aggressive and simply fall to the ground like dead twigs or leaves.

Reproduction of Malayan Jungle Nymph

The eggs of Heteropteryx dilatata are generally around 0.7 - 0.8 cm long and weighs 70mg. It will take around 12 - 14 months for the eggs to hatch. During this time, the female will guard its eggs in the ground from predators.

This nymph will usually be light brown in color once hatched. The male will turn slightly darker after each shedding session while the female will turn to green - yellowish color after the third shedding period.

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It will take around 1 year for the nymph to reach adulthood with the female(6 times) having more skin shedding than the male(5 times). The female has a longer lifespan of 2 years while the male typically lives for only 6-8 months.

Terrestrial

This species was found in 1974 by C.C. Chua in Cameron Highlands, Pahang, Malaysia, and the insect was exported to Europe several times by business owners in the 1980s.

A conducive temperature of 20(68 °F) - 30 °C(86 °F) and high humidity is required for the insect to shed their skin. For the female to lay its eggs, the soil must be at least a few centimeters in size.

A Heteropteryx dilatata can live up to 2 years in captive. However, the insect is recognized as an endangered species and the appropriate license must be obtained to keep it.

The Benefits Of Stick Insect In Our Ecosystem

Many people thought that most insects are considered pests. But the reality is quite the opposite as stick insects bring various benefits to our ecosystem than just munch on leaves alone.

They reduce the thick leaves' canopy and ultimately allow more light to pass through to the ground on top of improving the soil quality by fertilizing it with their own droppings. Such a tiny insect has a huge impact on our forest survivability as they all depend on each other.

Source:

• Gray, G.R. (1835) Synopsis of the species of insects belonging to the family of Phasmidae 13, 32.

• “SpeciesFile 28/09/2009 – Phasmid Study Group”. phasmid-study-group.org.

• Bank, S.; Buckley, T. R.; Büscher, T. H.; Bresseel, J.; Constant, J.; de Haan, M.; Dittmar, D.; Dräger, H.; Kahar, R. S.; Kang, A.; Kneubühler, B.; Langton-Myers, S. & Bradler, S. (2021) Reconstructing the nonadaptive radiation of an ancient lineage of ground-dwelling stick insects (Phasmatodea: Heteropterygidae), Systematic Entomology, DOI: 10.1111/syen.12472

• Guinness World Records 2013, Page 050, Hardcover Edition. ISBN 9781904994879

• Hennemann, F. H.; Conle, O. V.; Brock, P. D. & Seow-Choen, F. (2016). Revision of the Oriental subfamiliy Heteropteryginae Kirby, 1896, with a re-arrangement of the family Heteropterygidae and the descriptions of five new species of Haaniella Kirby, 1904. (Phasmatodea: Areolatae: Heteropterygidae), Zootaxa 4159 (1), Magnolia Press, Auckland, New Zealand 2016, ISSN 1175-5326

• Robertson, J.A., Bradler, S & Whiting, MF (2018). Evolution of Oviposition Techniques in Stick and Leaf Insects (Phasmatodea). Front. Ecol. Evol 6 (216). https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2018.00216 — [ Adobe PDF (PDF) ]

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