Phobaeticus chani

{{Short description|Species of stick insect}}

{{Speciesbox

| image2 = Phobaeticus chani Bragg, 2008; Paratype Male.jpg

| image = Phobaeticus chani Bragg, 2008; Holotype Female dorsal view.jpg

| image2_caption = Male paratype of Phobaeticus chani

| image_caption = Female holotype of P. chani

| genus = Phobaeticus

| species = chani

| authority = Bragg, 2008 (51 Longfield Lane, Ilkeston, Derbyshire, {{flag|Britain}}; PhD University of Nottingham, Nottingham, {{flag|Great Britain}})

| display_parents = 4

| synonyms = Sadyattes chani (Bragg, 2008){{Cite journal|last=Hennemann|first=Frank|date=6 December 2021|title=Stick insects of Sulawesi, Peleng and the Sula Islands, Indonesia—a review including checklists of species and descriptions of new taxa(Insecta: Phasmatodea)|url=https://mapress.com/zt/article/view/zootaxa.5073.1.1|journal=Zootaxa|volume=5073|issue=1|pages=1–189|doi=10.11646/zootaxa.5073.1.1|pmid=35390842 |s2cid=244913965 |via=Mapress}}

}}

Phobaeticus chani, the Chan's megastick (also known by its synonym Sadyattes chani), is a species of stick insect in the tribe Pharnaciini, native to the southeast Asian island of Borneo.[http://phasmida.speciesfile.org/Common/basic/Taxa.aspx?TaxonNameID=1201784 Phasmida Species File: species Phobaeticus chani Bragg, 2008 (Version 5.0/5.0)] It is one of the longest insects in the world and was once considered the record-holder (it is currently held by a scientifically undescribed species discovered in 2014 and informally known as Phryganistria "chinensis"{{Citation|last1=Shi|first1=Chaofan|title=Phasmatodea - Stick Insects and Leaf Insects|date=2019-03-15|work=Rhythms of Insect Evolution|pages=165–173|editor-last=Ren|editor-first=Dong|publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Ltd|language=en|doi=10.1002/9781119427957.ch13|isbn=978-1-119-42795-7|last2=Shih|first2=Chungkun|last3=Chen|first3=Sha|last4=Ren|first4=Dong|s2cid=92426100 |editor2-last=Shih|editor2-first=Chung Kun|editor3-last=Gao|editor3-first=Taiping|editor4-last=Yao|editor4-first=Yunzhi}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/worlds-new-longest-insect-is-the-length-of-your-arm/|title=World's New Longest Insect Is The Length Of Your Arm|last=Hale|first=Tom|date=14 August 2017|website=IFLScience|language=en|access-date=2020-03-27}}). One specimen held in the Natural History Museum in London measures {{cvt|56.7|cm}}.{{cite web|url= http://www.nhm.ac.uk/about-us/news/2008/october/worlds-longest-insect-revealed.html|title= World's longest insect revealed|access-date= 2008-10-16|publisher= Natural History Museum|date= 2008-10-16|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081019104055/http://www.nhm.ac.uk/about-us/news/2008/october/worlds-longest-insect-revealed.html|archive-date= 2008-10-19}} This measurement is, however, with the front legs fully extended. The body alone still measures an impressive {{cvt|35.7|cm}}.{{cite journal |last1=Hennemann |first1=F.H. |last2=Conle |first2= O.V. |date=October 2008|title= Revision of Oriental Phasmatodea: The tribe Pharnaciini Günther, 1953, including the description of the world's longest insect, and a survey of the family Phasmatidae Gray, 1835 with keys to the subfamilies and tribes (Phasmatodea: "Anareolatae": Phasmatidae)|journal= Zootaxa|volume= 1906|pages= 1–316|publisher= Magnolia Press|location= Auckland, New Zealand|doi=10.11646/zootaxa.1906.1.1 |issn= 1175-5326|url= http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2008/f/z01906p316f.pdf|access-date=2008-10-16}}

It is named after amateur Malaysian naturalist Datuk Chan Chew Lun.{{cite web|url= http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/10/18/nation/2316389&sec=nation|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081021034612/http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2008%2F10%2F18%2Fnation%2F2316389&sec=nation|url-status= dead|archive-date= 2008-10-21|title= World's longest insect named after KK naturalist|access-date= 2008-10-18|work= The Star|date= 2008-10-18}}

Phobaeticus chani was selected as one of "The Top 10 New Species" described in 2008 by the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University and an international committee of taxonomists.[http://asunews.asu.edu/20090522_top10species Scientists announce top 10 new species]. ASU News, May 22, 2009. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090528210712/http://asunews.asu.edu/20090522_top10species |date=May 28, 2009 }} The species was also listed as one of the top 10 discoveries of the decade in the BBC television documentary Decade of Discovery, first broadcast on December 14, 2010.[https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00wqfhd/Decade_of_Discovery/ Decade of Discovery]. BBC iPlayer.