Its common name refers to the irritating fluid — with an odor resembling peppermint — that it sprays as a defensive action[6] from a pair of glands located at its prothorax when threatened,[1] as well as the cylindrical, twig-like shape of its body.

[3] In the case of adults and the last larval instars, the entire body is a mostly uniform pale green; the head, thorax, mesothorax and legs are somewhat darker in color than the tegmina.

There are also two distinct populations of these insects in Australia: one on the Cape York Peninsula in Queensland, and the other on the Sir Edward Pellew Group of Islands in the Gulf of Carpentaria.

The habitat is complex mesophyll vine forests, typically at the transition area between the rainforest and the beach, where the insects live in pandanus plants.

Some of the isolated subpopulations of this species in northern Queensland are at risk for local extinction as a result of natural or anthropogenic hazards.

The males, whose hind wings are larger in proportion to their body size, are capable of "parachuting" to the forest floor when threatened.

[11] That said, at least one example has been reported in which an infestation of stick insects — possibly M. batesii — in Capiz Province on Panay Island in the Philippines has resulted in the destruction of pandanus plants used in the manufacture of mats.

[13] When sufficiently provoked (especially when the thorax and abdomen are touched) or when cornered by a perceived predator, these insects can spray an aerosolized cloud of noxious sticky white fluid from a pair of glands located at the prothorax.

[13] In an early description of a closely related species (Megacrania wegneri) in the Maluku Islands of Indonesia, Wegner reported that even immature phasmids were already in possession of a well-developed chemical defense mechanism.

Wegner also carefully described the paired prothoracic glands — these are pits located on the left and right side, dorsolaterally, at the anterior margin of the prothorax.

This membrane serves as a nozzle through which two jets of aerosolized fluid can be sprayed in either a forward or backward direction, depending on from where the insect perceives the threat.

[14][15] A few other phasmid species possess a chemical defense mechanism involving the secretion of a noxious fluid from a pair of prothoracic glands when disturbed.