Melbourne Zoo celebrated its 146th birthday on October 6th by opening a new exhibit for one of the world's most endangered insects.

Lord Howe Island Stick Insects have been given a new lease on life, thanks to a very successful breeding program at Melbourne Zoo.

In fact, Lord Howe Island Stick Insects were believed extinct for more than 80 years, after rats ran ashore from a ship and decimated local wildlife.

A tiny population of survivors was found on the steep cliffs of Ball's Pyramid in 2001.

Two of these survivors arrived at Melbourne Zoo five years ago, and the breeding program has been so wildly successful that there are now more than 700 insects and 15,000 eggs!

Until now, all this exciting work has been happening behind the scenes.

With the new exhibit now open, visitors will be able to see these Jurassic-era insects for the first time.

Visitors will be amazed by their very unusual appearance: these stick insects are very different from the kind found in Australia's back yards. They belong to an ancient group of insects whose only other members occur in New Guinea: thus the nickname ‘Jurassic insects'.

Adult Lord Howe Island Stick Insects are up to 12 cm long, and they're such a dark brown that they appear black - that's useful camouflage, because unlike other stick insect species they are nocturnal.

The Zoo's Invertebrate Specialist Patrick Honan explains that ‘they're naturally active at night, so we're using red lighting in their exhibit, because most insects can't see red. They'll think it's night, so they'll be active.'

Patrick has led this project ever since he returned from Lord Howe Island with ‘Adam' and ‘Eve' in 2003. He says ‘We are breeding these insects so that once the feral rats can be eradicated from Lord Howe Island, they can be reintroduced to their native habitat.

‘It has been a privilege for us to work with such an ancient and interesting species. They are continually surprising us with their fascinating biology and behaviour, and presenting challenges in the way we take care of them.'

During the past five years, Patrick and his team have discovered a great deal about this species: that they form breeding pairs, that during their lives females lay up to 250 eggs (in batches of 9 or 10), that they bury their eggs underground, that eggs take between 6 and 9 months to hatch, and that the insects live for up to nine months.

Patrick points out that ‘Insects may often seem insignificant in the scheme of things, but they are the basis of most ecosystems, and saving them is an indication of our regard for the health of the planet.'