Phobaeticus annamallayanus is a species of stick insect found in forests in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Its type location is in the forests of the Annamallay hills.
Taxonomy Phobaeticus annamallayanus is one of the 24 species of phasmids described by James Wood-Mason. He described the species from one preserved specimen given to him by a Colonel and a "much mutilated" dried specimen. Both specimens were female. Wood-Mason originally described the species as Phibalosoma annamallayanum, but the species was reclassified into the genus Pharnacia in 1904 with William Forsell Kirby's A synonymic catalogue of Orthoptera. It was subsequently renamed in 2008 as Phobaeticus annamallayanus based on the structure of its praeopercular organ, a structure only present in females and used during copulation. The species epithet derives from the Annamallay Hills where they are found. The paper that recombined Pharnacia Annamallayanum [sic] as Phobaeticus annamallayanus noted that another species, Phobaeticus sinetyi, bears many similarities to Ph. annamallayanus; however, the authors concluded more material was necessary to decide whether Ph. sinetyi should be considered a synonym of Ph. annamallayanus.
Description Wood-Mason's original description was very brief. He noted that Ph. annamallayanus was similar to Ph. acanthopus, but in general more compact and sturdy, with a "stout" body and "shorter and thicker" legs. In total, Wood-Mason's preserved specimen was 22.2 centimetres (8.7 in) long – the head was just 1.48 centimetres (0.58 in) in length but with 5.1-centimetre (2.0 in) antennae; the mesothorax, metathorax and abdomen combined measured 19.53 centimetres (7.69 in).
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