Overview

• The Zootaxa study confirms Acrophylla alta reaches 40 centimeters in length and weighs about 44 grams, surpassing the giant burrowing cockroach as the heaviest insect on the continent.
• Distinctive egg morphology provided key diagnostic features for formal classification despite the absence of male specimens.
• Collected females are restricted to remote rainforest canopies above 900 meters near Millaa Millaa and Mount Hypipamee in Far North Queensland.
• Although the insects have substantial wings, their bulky bodies limit them to gliding rather than sustained flight.
• James Cook University and Queensland Museum teams are conducting targeted nocturnal surveys to locate a male specimen needed for complete taxonomic naming.