“Creature from hell”: what is Paronchestus cornutus

In July 2023, a video with an insect, which was nicknamed “The Creature from Hell”, went viral on social networks. The video originally appeared on TikTok. There it got into the recommendations and gained more than 10 million views. The author of the video notes that this insect was seen in the city of Laverton in Western Australia. One of the scientists suggested that this insect is Paronchestus cornutus. That is, a stickman. According to him, in the video, the stick insect, seeing a threat to himself, is trying to defend himself, pretending that he is a poisonous scorpion. However, this insect is harmless. In the Insect Atlas of Australia, the stick insect that most closely resembles the one in the video is Phasma Briareus, which also has wings.

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