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Endangered species of the month

Lord Howe Island stick insect

Some facts about this species:

Total length: 130–140 mm

Weight: 25 grams

Distribution: It was thought to be extinct by 1920, only to be rediscovered in 2001. It is extinct in its largest habitat, Lord Howe Island (Tasman Sea, Pacific Ocean). It has been called "the rarest insect in the world", as the rediscovered population consisted of a mere 24 individuals living on the small islet of Ball's Pyramid (20 km southeast of Lord Howe Island, measuring 1,100 metres in length and 300 metres across).

Diet: Herbivore.

Surviving number: Less than 15,000 specimens, mainly in captivity.

Conservation status: Critically Endangered (IUCN 3.1).

First described: As Karabidion australe by the French botanist, zoologist and entomologist Xavier Montrouzier in "Essai sur la faune del'ile de Woodlark ou Moiou", Annales De La Societé D'Agriculture De Lyon, 1885.