Jakarta, IO – Davis Marthin Damaledo, a young man from Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) gained global fame after discovering a species of insect that had never been identified before.
His name is now featured in a scientific publication entitled Nesiophasma sobesonbaaii n. sp. — a new giant stick insect from the island of Timor, Indonesia (Insecta: Phasmatodea) which was published in March 2023, per Okezone, Sat (30/12).
The new species of insect resembles a twig. It has bright green color with a fairly large size, around 20cm.
He discovered the insect in 2021. Since he was young, Davis has been passionate in collecting insects found in his village Oemasi in Kupang.
He then took the unique insect home and asked his fellow insect enthusiast, Garda Bagus Damastra, for help in identifying it.
At that moment, Garda only managed to find out the genus, namely Nesiophasma. They then asked for help from Canadian insect researcher Frank H. Hennemann to help identify it by sending the insect to Canada.
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The identification results stated that the insect was a new species. Davis and Garda were involved in the research and named the species Nesiophasma sobesonbaaii.
The name Nesiophasma is taken from the genus, while the name Sobesonbaaii is inspired by the name of the national hero from NTT where the insect was discovered, Sobe Sonbai III. (un)