Captive readers

to entomologists when a rock climber, returning from a 1964 expedition to Ball’s Pyramid in the LHIG, produced a photo of what appeared to be the recently dead remains of one. That they could be living on a menacingly steep and barren volcanic outcrop, 500 metres tall and shaped like a needle, seemed implausible, particularly as there were no trees, only shrubs, on the island. Add to that the fact that Ball’s Pyramid and Lord Howe Island, the only previously known home to the insects, have never been connected by land and it seemed impossible. But when a second rock climber reported seeing them five years later scientists began to take notice. After a series of expeditions failed to find any evidence of a live population optimism faded. But in 2001 a party of entomologists and conservationists found them again, desperately clinging to life on a lone Melaleuca (tea tree) bush. So few insects were found that they did not dare bring any back to the mainland, and they were able to make very few observations about them — this partly due to their surprising speed so that they rapidly went into hiding when approached. A year later they returned to find 24 adults — a number still so low that the smallest event could eradicate them all. The risk of leaving them to their fate was matched only by the risk of removing any to set up a captive breeding program. Ultimately, though, this was done and two breeding pairs were brought to mainland Australia, one to Melbourne zoo and one to a private breeder in Sydney. After a number of scares these two breeding pairs have now led to a captive population that outnumber those in the wild — almost 100 including 10 adults. The next, and most important, step will be to reintroduce the insects to Lord Howe Island but before this can be considered the rats and feral cats will have to be eradicated. There is, not surprisingly, great public support for this among the islands population of approximately 300, but they are less enthusiastic about the release of a large, somewhat menacing, insect they perceive as a pest. Sadly for the phasmid, insects tend not to attract the same public affection as other endangered species, despite being essential components of any ecosystem and fascinating organisms in their own right. Perhaps, though, an exception might be made for this one — the rarest insect in the world, endemic to a particularly significant ecology, and the only insect so far observed to cuddle its partner at night.