Dryococelus australis, also known as the Lord Howe Island stick insect, Lord Howe Island phasmid or, locally, as the tree lobster, is a species of stick insect that lives in the Lord Howe Island Group. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Dryococelus. Thought to be extinct by 1920, it was rediscovered in 2001. Although it had been extirpated from Lord Howe itself, a remnant population of 24 individuals was rediscovered on the sea stack of Ball's Pyramid. The species has been called "the rarest insect in the world".
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👉 Lord Howe Island stick insect in the context of Ball's Pyramid
Ball's Pyramid is an uninhabited islet in the Pacific Ocean located 20 kilometres (12 mi; 11 nmi) southeast of Lord Howe Island, between Australia and New Zealand. The steep rocky basalt outcrop is the eroded plug of a shield volcano and caldera that formed 6.4 million years ago. It is 572 metres (1,877 ft) high, 1,100 metres (3,609 ft) long and only 300 metres (984 ft) across, making it the tallest volcanic stack in the world.
Ball's Pyramid, which is part of Australia's Lord Howe Island Marine Park, is positioned in the centre of a submarine shelf surrounded by rough seas, which makes any approach difficult. The pyramid is home to the only remaining wild population of the giant Lord Howe Island stick insect, thought to be extinct since 1920 until their discovery in 2001.
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Lord Howe Island stick insect in the context of Mated pair
Breeding pair is a pair of animals which cooperate over time to produce offspring with some form of a bond between the individuals. For example, many birds mate for a breeding season or sometimes for life. They may share some or all of the tasks involved: for example, a breeding pair of birds may split building a nest, incubating the eggs and feeding and protecting the young. The term is not generally used when a male has a harem of females, such as with mountain gorillas.
True breeding pairs are usually found only in vertebrates, but there are notable exceptions, such as the Lord Howe Island stick insect. True breeding pairs are rare in amphibians or reptiles, although the Australian Shingleback is one exception with long-term pair-bonds. Some fish form short term pairs and the French angelfish is thought to pair-bond over a long term. True breeding pairs are quite common in birds. Breeding pair arrangements are rare in mammals, where the prevailing patterns are either that the male and female only meet for copulation (e.g. brown bear) or that dominant males have a harem of females (e.g. walrus).