A Guide to the Stick Insects of Australia
The Project

A very small amount of research revealed that not only there was no such thing available, there was not even anything vaguely similar. Phasmid information in general was sparse and inaccessible.

And so this project was born.

Project Goals

1. producing a guide containing all known Australian Phasmatodea species, one page for each, to include photographs, descriptions, diagnostic data and a distribution map derived from sightings data.
2. The combined distribution data to be inverted, yielding a distribution map of Australia, and species lists by area.
3. To produce an interactive identification key to the Australian Phasmatodea, to facilitate the identification, particularly in the field, on live specimens.
4. Collecting the existing published papers into a single collection, making them more available to researchers and amateurs.

Project Outcomes

1. The aim of this project is to produce a web site which would contain at least the following:
   • The Australian Phasmatodea taxonomy, layed out as a series of web pages, one per family, subfamily and genus, ultimately linked to
   • one page for each each know Australian species, with photographs, descriptions and a distribution map.
   • The distribution data inverted to provide a ``clickable'' map of Australia, providing species lists to a granularity of 1 degree squares.
   • In interactive identification key, ultimately linked to each species. It may initially use simple web links, but a more flexible and less rigid system may be possible with some more advanced software, such as Lucid.
   • Collected reference papers, where possible.
2. HTML, the underlying WWW text and image storage, is a relatively simple format, and is readily distributed in a usable form on a CD-Rom. The web site could be distributed to interested organisations and individuals for the cost of reproduction of the CD-Rom and postage. With modern technology, this would be approximately AU$5.00 (plus the cost of the CD-Writer, amortized over the number of CDs). (If you would like buy a copy, let me know.)
3. It would be possible to turn the web contents into a printed reference book, if it ever becomes economically feasible. Recent print-on-demand technologies may make this possible. (If you would buy a copy, let me know, so I can have a better idea of the actual demand.) It is reliably estimated that about 500 copies would be sold, world wide.

Outline

Project Activities

• Prepare the structure of the web pages, and the underlying mechanisms for recording the data. The is essential, in order to demonstrate the concept, when attempting to interest participants and contributors.
  As you can see, this is mostly in place.
• Visit insect collections. There are various institutions with insect collections around Australia holding phasmatid species. These need to be visited to transcribe their catalogue, and particularly the collection site, often only present on the specimen tags. These are also often the only available places to obtain photographs of each species.
• Collect additional sightings data.
  • Solicit the assistance of other Australian entomological organisations, both professional and amateur. Perhaps they will offer free advertising spots in their newsletters, or presentations to their members at a monthly meeting?
  • Solicit the assistance of other natural history organisations (e.g. Australian Museum, RAOU, etc). Perhaps they will offer free advertising spots in their newsletters, or presentations to their members at a monthly meeting?
  • Other professional bodies or unions may have journals in which we may advertise, or obtain free advertising. (e.g. biologists, cartographers, ecologists, farmers, geologists, green-keepers, landscapers, lepidopterists, nursery-men, nature photographers (e.g. Densey Cline, Steve Parish), orchid growers, rangers, rose growers, surveyors, timber getters, tree surgeons, vintners, zookeepers, etc.) Domestic gardeners!
  • Other sporting bodies or clubs may have journals in which we may advertise, or obtain free advertising. (e.g. bird watchers, bush walkers, canyoners, cavers, fishermen, orienteers, rock climbers, etc.) Local aborigines may have a lot to offer, too.
  • Can we find a way to get into schools? Kids are frequently very observant. (Teachers federations in each state, Questacon, museum education sections, education departments.)
  • Don Burke, Quantum, etc?
• Unless we want to receive a whole heap of mangled dead insects, we need to publish an identification guide, along with a request for photos only, so they have some way of telling us what they saw.
  (This is tricky, because there is no agreed key for identification of Phasmatodea. Also, the language of identification keys is frequently inaccessible to the general public.)
• Extrapolate ranges. Because sightings data is so thin, it may be advantageous to use software such as BIOCLIM, or similar statistical techniques, to extrapolate possible species ranges from known sightings and climatological data.
  Obtaining access to the relevant software may be a problem, or I could write some.
• Find a home for the guide on the web. The author could host this on his own web site, or a Australian research organisation may be feeling generous.
• The Collected Papers are the primary source material for much of the guide. This, of course, is subject to copyright limitations, but as may of the relevant papers are in excess of 50 years old, this should not present an overwhelming problem.
  • List of papers sighted to date.
  • List of papers yet to be sighted.
  • Procedure for handling each paper.
• Rear each and every Australian species, with careful observations of each.

Project Timetable

At this point, I can't begin to guess when the project will be finished, or even when things will happen. Much depends on how many interested people climb aboard (hint) and what enthusiasms they bring with them.

I'd like to start visiting the Australian collections late in 1999. This will probably go on for several years. It would be nice to visit the last of them before 2005.

Volunteer Activities

Project Funding

Would you like to make a donation? E.g. air fares to the various collections around Australia, free web server space (many megabytes), lending photographic equipment when visiting collections, contributing time, effort or material for web publishing, etc.

Project Staffing

About the Author

Volunteers, participants, assistants, you-name-it: all welcome.

Recent Change History

Mysteries and Puzzles

Copyright © 2000-2003 Peter Miller This page was last changed 20-Sep-2006.