A new species of creepy crawly suspected to be the heaviest insect in Australia has just been discovered — and for many it is proving the stuff of nightmares.

The stick insect is about 40cm long but the “most surprising feature” is its weight.

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It hits the scales at about 44g, or slightly less than a golf ball, and while that may not seem like a lot, researchers say it is significant.

“There are longer stick insects out there, but they’re fairly light bodied,” said James Cook University professor Angus Emmott, who helped identify the new Acrophylla alta species.

“From what we know to date, this is Australia’s heaviest insect.”

It was found in the high altitudes of the Atherton Tablelands in North Queensland, and its large body size is thought to be an evolutionary response to its habitat.

“It’s a cool, wet environment where they live,” Emmott said.

“Their body mass likely helps them survive the colder conditions, and that’s why they’ve developed into this large insect over millions of years.”

Researchers suspect its habitat, which is difficult to access, is among the reasons it has taken this long to discover the “supersized” insect.

“It’s restricted to a small area of high-altitude rainforest, and it lives high in the canopy. So, unless you get a cyclone or a bird bringing one down, very few people get to see them,” Emmott said.

He said stick insects all have a “distinctive egg style”, which is important when confirming it as a new species.

“They’ve all got different surfaces and different textures and pitting, and they can be different shapes. Even the caps on them are all very unique,” Emmott said.

The insect, which some have likened to something out of horror film The Mist, is proving to be nightmare fuel for people on social media.

“That ain’t a stick bug, that’s a branch bug,” one person wrote, while another said: “Cool, can we undiscover it?”

A third said: “In Australia — unsurprising.”

The Queensland Museum is now home to two specimens which will be used in future research.