Lord Howe Island stick insect
The Lord Howe Island stick insect is a big, dark stick insect with no wings and strong legs. People call it the tree lobster. Everyone thought it had died out, until a tiny group was found clinging to life on a lonely rock in the sea.
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Fun facts
After ship rats reached Lord Howe Island in 1918, it vanished from there. By 1920 people thought it was extinct.
In 2001, scientists climbed the sea rock Ball's Pyramid at night and found just 24 of them living under one bush.
Zoos have since raised thousands of them from eggs, to keep the species safe.
The babies are bright green and active by day, but turn black and become night insects as they grow.
A female can lay eggs that hatch even without a male, which helped the species survive.
Most asked questions about Lord Howe Island stick insect
?Is the Lord Howe Island stick insect extinct?
No. People thought so, but it was found again in 2001 and zoos now breed it.
?Why is it called a tree lobster?
Because it is big, dark and sturdy, a bit like a lobster living in a tree.
?How big is the Lord Howe Island stick insect?
Up to about 20 centimetres long. The males are smaller than the females.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Dryococelus australis
- Group
- Stick and leaf insects
- Family
- Phasmatidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Phasmatodea > Phasmatidae
- Lives on
- Australia and Oceania
- Also known as
- Lord Howe Island phasmid, Tree lobster
Where the facts come from
- Dryococelus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Granitethighs. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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