Stick insects rest with the front legs held straight out beyond the head, which continues the twig outline past the body. Because that posture is natural, taxonomic descriptions of phasmids often report total length with legs extended alongside body length, and the two numbers differ substantially in the largest species.
Chan's megastick, described in 2008 from Borneo, has a body length of roughly 357 millimetres and a total length with legs of about 567 millimetres. It was described as the longest insect then known. In 2016 a specimen of Phryganistria chinensis from China was reported at 624 millimetres on the same with-legs convention, and other Phryganistria from Vietnam are of comparable size. Where a record claim is made, the measurement basis is doing much of the work.
The species is known from a handful of specimens and has never been studied alive in any depth. Its diet, egg-laying behaviour and canopy distribution are essentially unrecorded, so its conservation status has not been assessed.