Insect species miraculously reappears after more than a century of disappearance

Thought to have been "erased" since 1920, this unique insect species has just surprisingly reappeared after more than a century, surprising the world.

The Lord Howe Island stick insect (Dryococelus australis) - an insect thought to be extinct around 1920 - was discovered living on an uninhabited sea rock in the Pacific Ocean . Photo: Granitethighs/Wikimedia.

Also known as the tree lobster, the Lord Howe Island stick insect has a dark body, 6 long legs and a body length of 15 - 20 cm. They look quite like prehistoric creatures. Initially, this animal was only found on Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea, between Australia and New Zealand. Photo: Ashley Whitworth.

In 1918, the cargo ship SS Makambo sank in the area and accidentally caused an ecological disaster, causing Lord Howe Island to be invaded by black rats. Photo: (c) David R – some rights reserved (CC BY-NC).

The rats had a devastating impact on many of the native creatures that lived on Lord Howe Island, including the stick insect, which was thought to have been wiped out by around 1920. In addition to the stick insect, five bird species, at least 13 invertebrate species and two plant species were also "wiped out" on the island. Photo: (c) john lenagan.

In the 1960s, climbers came across the remains of a stick insect at Ball’s Pyramid, a small, uninhabited rock formation. Ball’s Pyramid is a vertical volcanic formation 23 km from Lord Howe Island. It is the tallest sea stack in the world . Photo: (c) Wendy Feltham – some rights reserved (CC BY-NC).

The Ball’s Pyramid stick insects differed from their Lord Howe Island counterparts in some ways. They had smaller legs and darker colouration. Due to some confusion, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List officially declared the species extinct in 1986. Photo: (c) Dryococelus_australis_02_Pengo.jpg – some rights reserved (CC BY-SA).

In 2001, an expedition team visited Ball's Pyramid and found three individuals living on a tea tree 64m above sea level. Photo: Rohan Cleave, Zoos Victoria.

According to the IUCN Red List, the Lord Howe Island stick insect remains critically endangered, with the number of wild individuals numbering only about 9 - 35. Photo: biolib.cz.

To conserve this species, experts have implemented a captive breeding program and bred 4 individuals of Lord Howe Island stick insects. Melbourne Zoo and San Diego Zoo are places where you can observe Lord Howe Island stick insects thanks to the captive breeding program. Photo: theinsectguide.net.

Readers are invited to watch the video : Discovering many new species in the Mekong River Region. Source: THĐT1.

Source: https://khoahocdoisong.vn/loai-con-trung-tai-xuat-than-ky-sau-hon-the-ky-mat-tich-post1545601.html