Top 10 new species of 2015: Cartwheeling spiders, 'chicken from hell' and a giant stick insect celebrated in the year's first official list (15)

The walking stick

Name: Phryganistria tamdaoensis

Location: Tam Dao National Park, Vietnam

What is it: A giant stick insect

Why it made the list: While this new stick insect is not the world's longest, it belongs to a family known as giant sticks.

At 9 inches in length, Phryganistria tamdaeoensis is compelling evidence that, in spite of their size, more giant sticks remain to be discovered and our knowledge of these masters of camouflage is far from complete.

This giant stick is common in the town of Tam Dao visited by many entomologists, yet it escaped notice until now. Living specimens are also on display at the vivarium of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences in Brussels.

The newcomer gets its name from the beautiful Tam Dao National Park in a mountainous area in the northwestern part of Vietnam. By the way, the record is held by Chan's megastick, Phobaeticus chani, at more than 22 inches (567 mm), named in 2008 from Borneo.

Phryganistria tamdaoensis (above) is found in mountainous areas of Vietnam but is far from being the largest stick insect in the world