Haaniella echinata is a stick insect species that is native to the entire north of Borneo.

In this species, too, both pairs of wings are shortened, with the forewings, which are developed as tegmina, completely covering the hindwings, which have been converted into stridulation organs.

The characteristics that make this species unmistakable include the bright turquoise-blue interarticular membranes on the coxae and between the first sternites of the abdomen, which can already be found in the newly hatched nymph.

In many dark brown females, the area around the transition from the pro- to the mesonotum is somewhat lighter and also often has a slightly greenish tinge.

In addition to the turquoise-green areas already mentioned, the membranes of the joints of the front and middle coxae and the larger spines are usually striking dark green.

Many males have two light brown areas running parallel to the body axis, which can extend across the entire pronotum to the front mesonotum and are lightest at the transition between these two thoracic segments.

[2][3] The distribution area of Haaniella echinata includes not only Brunei but also almost the entire Malaysian part of Borneo.

In addition to tropical rainforests in the lowlands, it also inhabits regions up to an altitude of 800 metres (2,600 ft), for example around Mount Kinabalu.

Its defensive behaviour also consists of spreading out its raised, spined hind legs and closing them when touched by an attacker.

[2][3] In 1906, Josef Redtenbacher described the species as Heteropteryx echinata, without using the genus name Haaniella, which had already been introduced by William Forsell Kirby in 1904.

[4][5] The specific name "echinata" was chosen in reference to the spiny body surface (ancient Greek echínos (ἐχῖνος) for sea urchin (Echinoidea)).

James Abram Garfield Rehn first referred to the species in 1938 with the name Haaniella echinata, which is still used today.