Viatouch Teacher Articles
Science

If Only I Could Fly

by Margaret Etherton

I wish that I could fly. If I could fly, I wouldn't be in the trouble that I am in today. You might suppose that it's only a spot of bother. But actually, it's not only my survival that's at stake, but the survival of my whole species! Perhaps I should start at the beginning:

I am a Lord Howe Island Phasmid, commonly called a Flightless Stick Insect. I am nearly five inches long. Sometimes, I am called the Land Lobster because I resemble a lobster. Members of my family have inhabited a quiet peaceful part of the planet earth for millions of years. "Have we ever been able to fly?" you ask. And my answer has to be no. It's true we have been a flightless species as long as that. Our resemblance to sticks has always protected us from our predators and enemies. That is until the arrival of some new species---Homo sapiens, better known as man and their hungry friend rattus rattus---the rat.

We lived in peace on the volcanic islands surrounding Lord Howe Island, about 400 miles east of the coast of Australia, where we hid in rocks and crevices. We only came out at night to feed and to mate. It was an idyllic existence for my forbearers for generations until one fateful day in 1918. A boat shipwrecked off the coast and the dreaded rats escaped to one of our islands. The rest is history. We had no defenses against these terrible predators. Gradually they ate us---one by one---on one island after another. Because we couldn't fly we couldn't escape! Numbers in my family hit rock bottom.

For eighty years everyone thought that we were caput, extinct, or 'dead as a dodo'
as some people say. And we were unique. An insect that cannot fly is almost a contradiction, wouldn't you say? We are a pretty amazing species if I do say so myself!

They gave up hope of ever finding our species alive again---until one fateful day in 2001. Some adventurous rock-climbing scientists scaled our mountain called Ball's Pyramid, a pinnacle of rock jutting out of the sea, 14 miles south of Lord Howe Island. They climbed in the middle of the night and found me perched on a tiny bush growing out of the rock face on the steep-sided pyramid.

You have never heard such excitement when those men and women discovered two more. Very carefully they placed us back on the cliff face. They knew that because they found three of us, with at least one male and one female, our species might survive! But survival is tough, even though we try to keep to ourselves. That's why I say if only I could fly. There may have been more of us living today.

On second thoughts, maybe flying isn't everything. I am quite happy looking like a stick, living on my pyramid mountain, and minding my own business. There are not many flightless insects in the world. Wouldn't you agree that I am pretty amazing just the way I am?

Bibliography

Guinness World Records 2002. New York: Facts on File, Inc., 2002.

Parish, Steve. Amazing Facts about Australian Insects and Spiders. Archerfield Queensland: Steve Parish Publishing, 1997.

Parish, Steve. First Field Guide to Australian Insects and Spiders. Archerfield Queensland: Steve Parish Publishing, 1998.

Margaret Etherton is a teacher, tutor and writer. She has taught a range of subjects, such as reading, writing, mathematics and computers to people of all ages - from small kids to seniors. Her publishing credits include over twenty fiction and non-fiction articles for Australian School Magazines. Many of her stories have been created about animals from an interesting viewpoint or with a twist in the telling. Margaret lives close to the beach in Sydney with her husband, her four children and her cat, Mushka.


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