Rats that escaped from its deck onto Lord Howe Island quickly dominated the local environment, eliminating species lacking natural predators. One of their victims was the stick insect Dryococelus ...

“The stick insect [story] illustrates the fragility of island ecosystems ... In 2001, a survey of Ball’s Pyramid, the remains of a large volcano about 20 kilometers away from Lord Howe Island, turned ...

The Lord Howe Island stick insect was once thought to be extinct, before being discovered by chance on Ball’s Pyramid several decades ago. How this flightless phasmid made the journey to this ...

They have a great nickname but their story is an unhappy one. There are only an estimated 30 or less Lord Howe Island stick insects left.