On one hand, it was the stuff of nightmares: one night in south China, a scientist spotted an enormous insect wriggling in the beam of his torch. At 62cm long, the insect, a species of Phasmatodea (stick insect) was longer than a newborn baby. On the other hand, it turned local myth into hard science and assured the scientist, Zhao Li, of a certain immortality after the new discovery was named in his honour.