Fifteen larvae of gigantic stick insects bred by the Insect Museum of West China were released to the wild in Dayaoshan National Nature Reserve, in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region late last month, to help restore the wild stocks of the species. /Xinhua Photo

The insect, native to China, was discovered in 2014 by Chinese entomologist Zhao Li, also the curator of the museum, as he carried out a field inspection at midnight in a forest in Guangxi. The museum successfully bred a 64cm-long stick insect, the largest in the world, last year. /Xinhua Photo

Before the discovery of the Chinese gigantic stick insects, the world’s longest insect was a Malaysian 56.7cm-long stick insect discovered in 2008 and is now on display in London’s Natural History Museum. /Xinhua Photo