‘Tree Lobster’ Extinct for 80 Years, Now Bred and Ready for Re-Introduction to Native Habitat
- Posted on March 30, 2012 at 11:59pm by
Liz Klimas
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A 13-mile long island of rock in the middle of the South Pacific off the Australian coast called Ball Pyramid housed a large secret — at least for the insect world. It was home to a small population of 12-centimeter long insects with what NPR says locals described as a lobster-like exoskeleton, giving it the colloquial name “tree lobster”. The walking stick-like insect was thought to be extinct for the past 80 years.
"Tree Lobster" (Photo: Patrick Honan/Nick Carlile via NPR)
NPR describes the insect, which often looks like a piece of a tree, as first identified on Lord Howe Island 13 miles away from Ball Pyramid, but states it had not been seen since the 1920s. By the 1960s, it was officially deemed extinct from the island, but there was a rumor at the time from rock climbers on Ball Pyramid who reported seeing some large, stick-like insects. But the rumor fell flat from there for years.
Ball Pyramid in relation to Lord Howe Island and the Australian mainland. (Image: NPR)
Following up on the potential of the nocturnal insect being present on the rocky island decades later, David Priddel and Nicholas Carlile, Australian scientists, set out to investigate. NPR has more:
[...] they crawled up the vertical rock face to about 500 feet, where they found a few crickets, nothing special. But on their way down, on a precarious, unstable rock surface, they saw a single melaleuca bush peeping out of a crack and, underneath, what looked like fresh droppings of some large insect.
Where, they wondered, did that poop come from?
The only thing to do was to go back up after dark, with flashlights and cameras, to see if the pooper would be out taking a nighttime walk. Nick Carlile and a local ranger, Dean Hiscox, agreed to make the climb. And with flashlights, they scaled the wall till they reached the plant, and there, spread out on the bushy surface, were two enormous, shiny, black-looking bodies. And below those two, slithering into the muck, were more, and more … 24 in all. All gathered near this one plant.
Carlile described seeing them as like “stepping back into the Jurassic age, when insects ruled the world.”
After the 2001 discovery, NPR reports, discussion circled around how to protect and grow the small population. It was decided that scientists could remove a couple insects from the island and bring them back to the mainland for study and breeding. From there, “Adam and Eve” were cared for by Patrick Honan at the Melbourne Zoo and when interviewed by Jane Goodall in 2008, the population had grown from two to 700 adults and 11,376 incubating insects.
Dryococelus australis
With such a healthy population, NPR reports, the next step was to consider introducing them back into their once native habitat: Lord Howe Island. It was thought a rat population was, in part, the cause for their initial demise. Here’s what has been done so far:
Step one, therefore, would be to mount an intensive (and expensive) rat annihilation program. Residents would, no doubt, be happy to go rat-free, but not every Howe Islander wants to make the neighborhood safe for gigantic, hard-shell crawling insects. So the Melbourne Museum is mulling over a public relations campaign to make these insects more … well, adorable, or noble, or whatever it takes.
NPR reports that they also made this video as part of the campaign:
NPR says that how the insects got from Lord Howe Island to Ball Pyramid is still a mystery. But invertebrate keeper at the zoo, Rohan Cleave, had some theories for the Sydney Morning Herald:
‘‘The first is that they floated across on vegetation,’’ he said. ‘‘Secondly, we know that they were used as fishing bait so local fishermen could have thrown them overboard or put them there … [or] seabirds could have carried them across.’’
For now, NPR notes, it’s up to the residents of Lord Howe if the insects will be reinstated. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the initiative to eradicate the rats would have to work first.
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Comments (152)
SkyeOne
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 2:34amYuck. I wish they’d stayed extinct.
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 4:06amArmed with few cans of Raid, I would make the extinct again
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 9:07amFunny how the elitist “science” community shoves “survival of the fittest” down our throats when they want to kill God and replace Him with their worship of “Science”; until a species #FAIL s to thrive. Suddenly, there is no mention of “survival of the fittest” and we the people are supposed to feel grateful that our hard earned money is being TAKEN from us to override the scientist’s once-holy laws of “nature.”
Report Post »Once you release genetically modified food and animals into “nature” it is no longer NATURAL.
Why the elitist central planning? Central control? Central authority?
What happened to freedom and liberty?
Corporations are artificially sustained by our tax dollars, IF some elitist has deemed them worthy of saving. What criteria is used? Who gets to decide?
This simultaneously PUNISHES smaller, better, thriving companies.
Think GM, SOLYNDRA, the WALL ST mismanaged banks, FREDDIE/FANNIE, etc.
Just as with this species of “bug” there is another species lower on the food chain that will now suffer, be it plant or insect.
Whenever we go meddling with God’s creations, we cannot help one without hurting another.
Patrick Henry II
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 9:47amDoes the Orkin garauntee cove this?
Report Post »FreedomPurveyor
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 11:11amHere is my prediction.
Once they eliminate the rats and reintroduce these nasty things, the population will grow massively. At some point, rats will be inadvertently reintroduced, and having an ample food supply, will thrive. The island will become overrun with rats like never before.
Report Post »AmazingGrace8
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 11:28am@tomferrari
Well said. Always enjoy reading your common sense posts.
Report Post »Have a great day!
Cesium
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 2:49pmSKYEONE only religions nuts say things like that.
Report Post »PeachyinGA
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 7:36pmI say start with the Occupy tents to re-patriate these precious tree lobsters. I’m sure those tree-huggers would be honored to have them as tent-mates. Right?
Report Post »toto
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 8:55pmTomferrari, just liberals wanting to pick winners and losers.
Report Post »Link8on
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 11:33pmIf by survival of the fittest, this species was meant to die out,
then reintroduction and rat eradication sounds very anti – science to me.
The rats should organize and start occupying the zoos everywhere to demand the 1 % tree lobster elites pay their fair share to the 99% rats.
Report Post »Pontiac
Posted on April 1, 2012 at 12:31amThe rats that destroyed the bug populations were not native to the island. They were likely stowaways on merchant ships.
Report Post »These isolated ecosystems helped preserve the evolutionary branches of many species we would otherwise not see today. Though I’d be breaking out the cans of Raid on this one as well. Maybe even a flame thrower.
Quiata
Posted on April 1, 2012 at 8:24amOh, come on you guys. This is a cool critter! Looks likes a big cricket (albeit a monstrous one).
On the “survival of the fittest” note, would you be so in favor of zebra mussels invading the Great Lakes? (Those weakling native fish…) Would you be in favor of the invasion and population of political boundaries by aggressive cultures?
Be careful with that “survival of the fittest” sword because it cuts both ways.
Report Post »thespank
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 2:13am“And locusts descended on the earth”….))))
Report Post »thespank
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 2:18am“And they had stingers, tails with venom that did not kill but left men wishing for death”.( Paraphrasing again).
Report Post »Itsjusttim
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 2:23amYep that’s it, their sting is in their tails, and don’t forget they also have fangs. Hey, maybe it drones, yep that must be it.
Itsjusttim
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 2:28amDon’t forget they have hair like women too. It must be drones that have lasers in their tails flying around with little toy long-haired action figures riding in a little cockpit, with fangs painted on the nose of the drone. Yep that must be it.
Itsjusttim
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 2:32amOn the other hand it could be aliens coming from outer-space like scorpions coming from the great deep of space. Oh awesome, that might be it.
Itsjusttim
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 2:35amOn the other-hand maybe it is terminators coming from outer-space from one of the many inhabited planets.
dumbgrunt33
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 3:09amThought I was the only one thinking that…..
Report Post »Copo
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 1:16pm*Facepalm* Only a futurist… only a futurist
Report Post »Itsjusttim
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 2:07amSometimes it‘s almost as if they try to make a Noah’s Ark, and it‘s so funny because they literally have no concept of what Noah’s Ark really is, as the complete simpletons run around the globe even trying to find a boat. Lol.
Itsjusttim
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 2:12amHere’s a clue, if you don’t know, then you probably won’t be in it.
Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 4:18amGod, water, hey let me post 20 times. Everybody. Believe. I am Tim, water. god, water….post over and over……I am really Noah. God is coming……..water.
I am Tim. Wait, let me post another 20 times.
Water, water water.
God. Repent.
Or am I just a left wing nut sent to upset and post crazy stuff, over and over and over.
That’s what they taught me at the seminar.
I am Tim.
Let me post another 20 times.
Water.
Report Post »disenlightened
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 7:35amI love the sound of bugs with exoskeletons crushing under my shoes.
Report Post »Kerstile
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 8:25amHey D&J@T, be kind to children, now. I think he only reads his stuff because he replies to himself A LOT.
Report Post »usedCZARsalesman
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 10:33amTim, please, PLEASE seek medical attention…you are seriously mentally disturbed man. What kind of church do you do to that people don’t look at you like a weirdo everytime you opened your mouth? If you were catholic they would have performed and exorcism on you already
Report Post »Cesium
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 2:52pm@Tim You do seriously need help and some time of mentor to fix your thinking patterns.. You have no grasp on what Logic is… I don‘t think you’re capable of logic which is dangerous. You seem to have a very disturbed conception of what fact and fiction is.
Report Post »P C BE DAMNED
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 4:28pmTim
Why is it every time I read your posts I just think, why can’t you just say your thoughts in plain english. Are you the riddler or do you have a demon?
Report Post »FreedomPurveyor
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 2:03amCool, just annihilate the population of one specie so a bunch of huge, nasty bugs can prosper. I would take my chances with the rats.
Report Post »johnnycatt
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 7:07amI found it rather odd that someone would exterminate one specie (that was totally dominate in the environment) to replace it with a lesser creature — kinda like “social justice” in the US… we punish those who succeed and reward those who fail… Who gets to determine which species gets to “expand” and which species gets “eradicated,” anyway?
Report Post »1NJslave
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 10:55amIs that not the way some homosapiens think?
Report Post »P C BE DAMNED
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 4:31pmIts my understanding these rats were introduced into Australia many decades ago and have been an ongoing war ever since with them.
Report Post »thetreyman
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 5:31pmrats carry disease, i’ll take the bug. they also have a big problem with rabbits.
http://www.animalcontrol.com.au/rabbit.htm
Report Post »Itsjusttim
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 2:01amThey like those little critters, they must know they are going to be one someday.
Corwin of Amber
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 7:42amtim…are you 11? Do you suffer from postarrhea? Other people have things to say. Shut up and let them—this is not Tim’s personal posting space.
Report Post »Kerstile
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 8:35amCorwin, I named my oldest son after Brand. Alas, he has been indoctrinated by the forces of Chaos. See you in Amber to unseat our Eric. RIP Roger Zelazny. You brought me great joy with your books.
Report Post »RaptorEP
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 6:06pmRat‘s didn’t originate in the habitat and destroyed the local wildlife, like Killer Bees did to the US Honey Bee population. It’s good stewardship to try to preserve a truly endangered species. That being said, I don’t believe that every species are “endangered” on the EPA’s endangered species list, and the environmental protection act has been grossly abused, but these bugs are really endangered and have been driven from there original habitat and should be preserved. I also find it insulting by those who mocks God in their posts over this and these bugs are not related to elitists science worship. Look to the public schools for that, regarding Darwinism and Evolution which has been disproven by Darwin’s own standards referred in his theory, and yet is taught as fact and not the theory that it is.
Report Post »dumbugga
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 1:53amBreak out the Raid!
Report Post »mharry860
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 1:48amSo this benefits the ecosystem how? I wish mosquitoes and flies were extinct.
Report Post »HorseCrazy
Posted on April 1, 2012 at 12:22amit benefits nothing just another annoying liberal cause to dominate animal species and selectively chose which one to demolish and which one to feel sorry for. just more liberal nonsense.
Report Post »vonMises
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 1:32amUm, Guys… When is April Fools Day? Just asking.
Report Post »Belchfire V-8
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 1:21amMaybe they could reintroduce the Eastern Bison? Think how much fun that would be with Buffalo running wild in Pennsylvania, New York etc. And people think a White Tail Deer does damage to a Prius. And after the Japanese have recloned the Mammoth we could bring them over here? It’s bad enough that the Coyotes are in central Pa. They did that themselves. They didn’t need help from some wackos. There are MANY extinct or nearly extinct species. We can’t save them all. Let the Tree Lobsters stay on the island that they found them on, but STILL kill off the rats.
Report Post »johnnycatt
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 7:13amoh, it’s coming! Trust me! The US Department of the interior just re-introduced 5 breeding pairs of the following animals into South Mississippi because this was their “original range” before “white settlers:” Black bear, Timberwolf, Bald Eagle and Florida Panther. I am sure my white forefathers (and black forefathers and Indian forefathers and all the other forefathers) were thrilled to have rid our area of preditors who would gladly carry off a child, but the genuises in govt thought it would be good idea to bring them back — “bullet and bury it” is our motto…
Report Post »babylonvi
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 1:12amThis is what the workd needs, more giant insects. A question though, how interesting that interview must have been between Goodall and those giant insects. What did they have to say? This just the kind of article to expect from ex-Huffpo people.
Report Post »Mia Cav
Posted on April 3, 2012 at 9:07am@ BabylonIV – I love your handle! B5 was fantablous! (sorry, Blazers, a little bit of quality sci-fi never hurt any political activisim).
Report Post »Apple Bite
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 1:08amHow about this? Leave them be. Apparently, they no longer wanted to be on their original island for a good reason. Damn Liberals playing “God”….
Report Post »Think Deep
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 8:35pmCome on people, really making a Dem/Repub argument from this–I am as right as anyone, but these insects were decimated due to our introduction of rats, not “God’s” will or evolution.
Report Post »Rational Man
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 1:02amWho cares?
Report Post »The_Almighty_Creestof
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 12:43amGood old Australia…didn’t you learn not to mess with mother nature back when you introduced rabbits to your land?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbits_in_Australia
Report Post »Link8on
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 11:36pm@The_Almighty_Creestof
Maybe introduce the Bart Simpson Frogs.
Report Post »Netsurfer2
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 12:43amI wonder if they are like cockroaches? Can they live from a nuclear blast?
Report Post »CatB
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 12:36amAttention .. the libs are out in full force on the Time 100 voting … go and cast your votes!
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2107952_2107953,00.html?iid=redirect-time100
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 12:25amYum, with butter. Not.
Report Post »marine249
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 12:31amDARMOK
Report Post »I was going ask What for dinner [with butter and maybe warpped in bacon]
lukerw
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 12:33amWhoopee… thank god for Australia… Now, in other Liberal News…
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 12:37amThat thing almost reminds me of the cockroaches in Hawaii, big buggers, and they flew. At least these things don’t have the big claws. That would be a nightmare.
Report Post »riseandshine
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 12:46am@Lukerw…..liberal news?
Report Post »ronin_6
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 12:49am@Marine249
Report Post »You could wrap my boot in bacon and it would taste good. Just so you know crabs and lobsters are distant cousins of arachnids. Spiders that is. Maybe that’s why they went extinct. You can’t eat just one.
marine249
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 1:54amRONIN_6
Report Post »kind of like potato chips
SacredHonor1776
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 2:04amYa, B-52 cockroaches in Hawaii… those things are a menace…
Report Post »NeoMouser
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 12:24ami see one
Report Post »squish (Crunch) under boot..it went extinct for a reason
now we try to reintroduce it ? what happens if it has no natural predators and
population gets out of control
riseandshine
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 12:23amThat wore me out.
Report Post »Stoic one
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 12:21amok they are not dead.
Report Post »3monkeysmomma
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 12:55amNo but I would be if one of those suckers crawled on me! EWWWW!
Report Post »Rowgue
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 12:21amThey ought to take care of the insane rodent infestation in australia first. You know the one that‘s actually affecting people and destroying their livelyhood’s because it’s so out of control.
Report Post »Amica
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 3:48amBecause it’s a weird human trait that when an organism is successful on its own, we call it a nuisance and do our best to eradicate it. When it is somehow poorly suited by nature to be successful we get all emotional, call it endangered, and will do almost anything to save it.
Report Post »Joe Shmoe
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 9:56amAmica -
Consider that the rats which destroyed this NATIVE species were introduced to Lord Howe Island by HUMANS. WE are the culprit.
Everglades:
giant pythons, toxic toads, giant Gambian rats
Great Lakes and connecting rivers:
flying Asian carp, gobies, zebra mussels
South U.S.:
kudzu, feral pigs
These are just samples of how WE HUMANS disrupt ecosystems. I don’t see how restoring some of the damage, by reinstating a harmless bug, is anything but fair. Other than mosquitoes, cockroaches, and flies, most insects are beneficial. It is the MAN-MADE introduction of emerald ash borers or Asian longhorn beetles which are destroying the beauty of our own country.
Report Post »Amica
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 6:58pmI stand by my statement. Wherever they are and however they got there, critters like rats, magpies, starlings, and pigeons (to name a few) and plants like dandelions, purple loosestrife, and morning glory (also to name only a few) have adapted themselves and are wildly successful despite human activity. I’m not saying there is any harm in saving the bug, it’s just an observation and one that holds true to me wherever I look.
Report Post »Eugene1
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 12:19amCool!
Report Post »Jenny Lind
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 9:49amIt is, so why can‘t they grow more of the endangered fish that’s destroying the bread basket of California because they turned off the water to one of the best agriculture areas of the country to save this two inch fish? Or was that political?Hmmmmmmmm.
Report Post »TumbleBumble
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 12:17amI’d like to hear that they found a little group of Dodo birds.
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 12:31amThey did find A talking donkey, oh, wait that was just Joe Biden.
Report Post »chameleonx
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 12:16amThis is pretty cool. Is there anything science cannot do?
Report Post »4xeverything
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 6:37amYes, they cannot seem to keep from interfering with nature. These bugs became extinct (or close to extinction) for a reason, and man in his infinate stupidity walks in and decides that he has a right to change it. Perhaps that species decimation was to bring on the lively explosion of a new species. If you contend that is not the way it works, then I contend that you know nothing about science. Your question should be is there anything science should do.
Report Post »Black_Dynamite
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 12:11amMaybe they disappeared for a reason, now watch them show up in the U.S. someday with a bad attitude like killer bees.
http://www.squidoo.com/5linx-from-a-to-z
http://www.zazzle.com/jacinto888
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 12:20amI know, they would be good to dump in the Senate though; might clear the Progressives out of the place once and for all.
Report Post »riseandshine
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 12:49am@Snow…..that would leave maybe 3 senators.
Report Post »wakeus_com
Posted on March 31, 2012 at 12:09amYawn?
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