Talk:Dryococelus

Rarest insect in the world?

The article calls this "the rarest insect in the world" (existing only on Ball's Pyramid). I realize I represent only one data point, but I've seen that bug before. I saw it in Hawaii, 2008, on "the rock" in Waimea Bay (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waimea_Bay,_Hawaii). There's a giant rock on that beach that extends out into the ocean (a habitat oddly similar to the rocky cliffs of Ball's Pyramid). I jumped off the rock into the ocean and attempted to rock-climb my way back up to the top of the rock. I put my hand into one of the rocky "cubby holes" ... and out of the cubby hole came one of those giant black lobster-ant creatures. Scared the light and darkness out of me. I fell into the ocean and swam around to the beach vowing never to climb up that rock again. I think that bug I saw @ Waimea was Dryococelus australis (or perhaps some distant cousin)? — Preceding unsigned comment added by DanFidurko (talk • contribs) 05:55, 7 June 2014 (UTC)

Lazarus effect

The article states that "this phenomenon is known as the Lazarus effect" but the Lazarus effect page talks about only being known in the fossil record, which this insect wasn't, it was used as fish bait even. can anyone confirm the usage of the term Lazarus effect?--Hypo Mix (talk) 14:10, 17 August 2012 (UTC)

Page Moved

Page moved to Dryococelus australis, to conform to standards of WikiProject Phasmatodea Edwbaker 00:22, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

Picture

The picture is of the wrong species. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 137.216.102.52 (talk) 18:55, 18 December 2008 (UTC)

Are you sure? At the end of the video I just posted you can see a couple of sleeping pair-bonded Dryococeli, and one of them has the muscular back legs of the one in the picture.. maybe sexual dimorphism? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.233.1.155 (talk) 05:25, 6 January 2009 (UTC)

The ones on the Discovery Channel were jet black. Maybe it is a juvenile. The article says they change colour. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.69.47.65 (talk) 04:06, 25 May 2012 (UTC)

They hatch as bright green insects, mature into black insects, and then mature more as redish-brown insects. The image that's currently used for this article is likely one that died naturally and is now pinned to a board. File:Lord Howe Island stick insect Dryococelus australis 10June2011 PalmNursery.jpg is an image of the black phase. File:Lord Howe Island stick insect Pengo.jpg is dead and pinned to a board but is an older insect. --Marc Kupper|talk 18:58, 3 February 2017 (UTC)

Count as of 2009

I went on a tour of the Melbourne Zoo today (15 Feb 2009), and Rohan (the guy who showed us what they were doing with the Lord Howe stick insects) said they now have 600 individuals.CactusPolecat (talk) 06:19, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

Clarification

The following passage is inappropriate for an encyclopedia article and should be rewritten or removed:

The behavior of this stick insect is highly unusual for an insect species. The males and females form some kind of a bond. The males follow the females and their activities depend on what the female is doing. During the night the couple sleeps together with three of the male's legs wrapped around the female.

Drutt (talk) 19:30, 11 November 2009 (UTC)

Most isolated sea stack

Removed a short passage that claimed Balls Pyramid is the world's most isolated sea stack. Off hand I can think of several such as Lot's_Wife_(crag) and Smith_Island_(Japan) that are more isolated. Here, I'm assuming that "isolation" means degree of closeness to another island. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.107.120.243 (talk) 00:28, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

You are absolutely right in all you say, but ... in the context of this article, perhaps a little more (ahem) "creative interpretation" is warranted. Having recently been to Lord Howe Island and heard this sort of stuff over and over, I think that what they are getting at is something like "Balls Pyramid and Lord Howe Island together form the world's most biologically isolated island group". Old_Wombat (talk) 09:42, 26 December 2011 (UTC)

Commercial Availability

Since there are now thousands of specimens of this species, has the zoo considered selling some to other zoos? Also, what kind of temperatures can this insect withstand? The island they were on can't be that warm since it's fairly close to the south pole. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.69.47.65 (talk) 04:14, 25 May 2012 (UTC)

Possible reference

"Love Giant Insects? Meet The Tree Lobster, Back From The Brink" (February 11, 2016) by Nell Greenfieldboyce.. Could be used a citation. Jason Quinn (talk) 23:10, 11 February 2016 (UTC)