Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Mysterious insect discovered in the Philippines





A mysterious wingless insect has been discovered  in the Philippines recently. The spectacularly colored insect is said to live on the ground and vents a foul smell to drive away predators according to the scientists who found the insect.

Marco Gottardo, a PhD student in the University of Siena said that his colleague Oskar Conle, an entomologist showed him museum specimens of a mysterious-looking stick insect. The specimen is said to have been found on Mindoro’s Mount Halcon several years back. 

The stick insect has been given its own genus.  Gottardo said, little is known whether the insect is related to other stick and leaf insects. 

Photo: Oskar Conle

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