AUSTRALIA: STICK INSECTS THOUGHT TO BE EXTINCT HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED ON LORD HOWE ISLAND OFF AUSTRALIAN EAST COAST

Record ID: 227118

  • Title: AUSTRALIA: STICK INSECTS THOUGHT TO BE EXTINCT HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED ON LORD HOWE ISLAND OFF AUSTRALIAN EAST COAST
  • Date: 15th February 2001
  • Summary: LAS SCIENTISTS LOOKING AT PHOTOGRAPHS OF STICK INSECT (0.46) CLOSE UP OF PHOTOGRAPH WHERE INSECT WAS DISCOVERED (0.49) SV/MCU OF SCIENTISTS LOOKING AT PHOTOGRAPHS (2 SHOTS) (0.57) MCU (English) SENIOR RESEARCH SCIENTIST, NEW SOUTH WALES NATIONAL PARKS AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, DR. DAVID PRIDDEL SAYING: "We've actually found three individuals, we believe there's probably no
  • Embargoed: 2nd March 2001 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
  • Country: Australia
  • Topics: Environment,Quirky,Science / Technology,Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVACNLBUNRAIFT808I6TKIE37SID
  • Story Text: Stick insects thought to be extinct for 83 years have been discovered living on a single bush on remote Lord Howe Island off Australia's east coast.
    The Lord Howe Island Phasmid Dryococelus Australis measures 15 cm (six inches) long and 1.5 cm (half an inch) wide, and is supported by long mechanical-like legs which end in strong hooks, giving the insect a prehistoric appearance.
    Scientists from the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service discovered the insects on Lord Howe, 600 km (370 miles) east of Australia, earlier in February.
    "We've actually found three individuals, we believe there's probably no more than ten individuals in this one little bush on this volcanic peak and that makes this insect the rarest insect in the world and perhaps the rarest vertebrate in the world," said Dr. David Priddle, a scientist with the New South Wales Parks and Wildlife department.
    The scientists found the three insects, along with a number of eggs, dining on a bush on a rocky outcrop called Balls Pyramid.
    "We were the first people in over 80 years to see a live phasmid. In fact, there's no one alive today who can remember what the phasmid looks like," said Australian scientist Nicholas Carlile.
    The flightless insect, which by day shelters in moist rocky crevices and emerges at night, was thought to have been killed off by rats that arrived on Lord Howe following a shipwreck in 1918.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register