A colossal stick insect found living in the highland rainforest of northeastern Australia could be the chonkiest (read: heaviest) bug the continent has to offer.

Acrophylla alta , as the species has been named, weighs up to 44 grams (1.6 ounces) – comparable to a golf ball. In length, it measures around 41 cm (16 inches) with its legs outstretched, significantly longer than the average human forearm.

"There are longer stick insects out there [in the region], but they're fairly light bodied," says natural scientist Angus Emmott , formerly of Australia's James Cook University, now retired. "From what we know to date, this is Australia's heaviest insect."

The newly discovered bug makes its home high in the canopy of the Atherton Tablelands , a highland rainforest in tropical Queenslan

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