March 25, 2026

"Commonly known as 'tree lobster' or 'walking sausage,' the Lord Howe Island stick insect's only known wild habitat is Ball's Pyramid."

"The sheer rock islet was formed more than 6 million years ago by volcanic activity, and at 572 metres it is the tallest volcanic stack in the world."

From "New discovery of rare Lord Howe Island stick insect colonies" (abc.net.au).

Nice photos of Dryococelus australis and of Ball's Pyramid.

"[Melbourne Zoo's phasmid specialist Rohan] Cleave said he was 'really stoked' by the program's new arrivals, which he described as 'beautiful and placid animals' that 'you can't help but fall in love with.'"

24 comments:

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Tofu King said...

You just never know what you're going to get with Althouse each morning. Well done!

Iman said...

Find a nice young lady, Yohan Cleave. Before it’s too late.

Fred Drinkwater said...

How long before the origin of "stoked" becomes incomprehensible? Or perhaps, commonplace, as modern energy systems collapse?

Tofu King said...

Once they get off Ball's Pyramid all hell will break loose. These phasmid specialists are unwitting tools of escape.

Enigma said...

Ball's Pyramid is wild. Here's a nature documentary on climbing it: "The Most Terrifying Climb in the Pacific"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTZ8h6RGi2A

Sydney said...

Beautiful color of that insect.

Bob Boyd said...

My cousin had a balls pyramid. He bought it from a new age holistic healer who was treating him for erectile disfunction after a lightening strike. This thing was supposed to focus cosmic energies on his scrotum, which at the time was somewhat reminiscent of Yosemite Sam after a one of his dynamite mishaps.
Anyway, there were some funny looking bugs discovered on that pyramid too, as it turns out.

Peachypeachy said...

Climbing that would take balls. Especially if one of those insects landed on you.

Iman said...

“My cousin had a balls pyramid. He bought it from a new age holistic healer who was treating him for erectile disfunction after a lightening strike”

That is unusual. Usually the strike exits through a foot, IIRC. Best wishes to your cousin, Bob.

rehajm said...

…tree lobster is good stick bug is not. We have stick bugs here. Stick bugs are a friend of mine. Tree lobster you’re no stick bug…

rehajm said...

…did they stumble across Luke Skywalker's hiding spot? Crikey!

Peachypeachy said...

Democrat party fraud is everywhere… and often goes unpunished. Just like the leftist cultists demand.

Peachypeachy said...

Oops wrong thread.

Old and slow said...

"…did they stumble across Luke Skywalker's hiding spot?"

Nope. That's the island of Skellig Michael off the west coast of Ireland.

tommyesq said...

According to the article, they found nine such bugs, and captured seven for breeding in captivity. Seems like a bad way to maintain a wild population?

theCase said...

For some reason I've got "Rock Lobster" by the B52s in my head now...

Bob Boyd said...

That is unusual. Usually the strike exits through a foot

The lightening actually entered through a foot in this case. My cousin was holding some kind of yoga position in a large, open field at the time. He was upright with both of his feet behind his head. His yogi had convinced him he would improve his sperm count and prowess as a lover if his scrotum was given regular opportunities to touch grass.

rehajm said...

Nope. That's the island of Skellig Michael off the west coast of Ireland

…if you’re gonna play that game at least get it right- it’s Ahch-To, in the Ahch-To system, F-13 of the galactic grid…

Wilbur said...

So, how did they eradicate the rats on Lord Howe Island?

https://lhirodenteradicationproject.org/

(A summary: with over 23,000 stations. 22,000 of which dropped from helicopters into remote forest and cliff areas, then followup hunting with trained dogs.)

gadfly said...

Since Trump declares that the war is already over, we have won, so why are any negotiations needed - period? Amen! Whiskey Pete responds. He prefers bombing.

john mosby said...

"Walking sausage" was an Edwardian euphemism for random gay encounters in the London parks.

"Come along, darlings, let's see what sort of walking sausage we can find!" CC, JSM

pious agnostic said...

NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment [,] and Water

Josephbleau said...

Kentucky Gov. Beshear is the expert on Hillbilly taxonomy so he would know right away that tree lobster and walking sausage are just Appalachian terms for the eastern grey squirrel.

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