Scientists find 'extinct' stick insect

　　SYDNEY—Stick insects thought to be extinct for 83 y ears have been discovered living on a single bush on re mote Lord Howe Island off Australia's east coast. But t here are only three of them.

　　The Lord Howe Island Phasmid Dryococelus Australis measures six inches long and half an inch wide, and is supported by long mechanical-like legs which end in str ong hooks, giving the insect a prehistoric appearance.

　　"The thrill of seeing these long-lost animals made us feel like we had been transported back to another ti me when they once dominated the night-time forests of t his magical group of islands," Australian scientist Nic holas Carlile said on Tuesday.

　　Scientists from the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service discovered the insects on Lord How e, 370 miles east of Australia, earlier in February.

　　The scientists found the three insects, along with a number of eggs, dining on a bush on a rocky outcrop c alled Balls Pyramid.

　　The flightless insect, which by day shelters in moi st rocky crevices and emerges at night, was thought to have been killed off by rats that arrived on Lord Howe following a shipwreck in 1918.

　　(Reuters)

　　Notes:

　　1. asteroid: n. 小行星

　　2. elongate: v. 拉长

　　3. turbine: n. 涡轮机

　　4. diesel: n. 柴油机

　　5. plummet: n. 铅锤 v. 快速下落

　　6. cyclone: n. 气旋，暴风

　　7. fatigue: n. 疲劳

　　8. crevice: n. 裂缝，缺口