Today, August 18, the winner of an unusual competition is set to be announced — “Invertebrate of the Year — 2026”.
The final ten include creatures that could easily have been characters in a science fiction film. Among them are a photosynthetic sea slug, an immortal jellyfish, a flying squid, and the Lord Howe Island stick insect, which has been nicknamed both a “tree lobster” and a “walking sausage”.
The latter looks especially symbolic today, on World Never Give Up Day.
The Lord Howe Island stick insect — Dryococelus australis — was long considered extinct. However, decades later, a small population was rediscovered on the tiny volcanic islet of Ball's Pyramid. This led to a captive breeding program, which turned the insect's fate into one of the most impressive stories of saving a rare species.
The stick insect also has far less solemn nicknames. It is called a tree lobster, and because of its large, elongated body, it is sometimes jokingly compared to a “walking sausage”.
It makes for an almost perfect hero of the day: you are declared extinct, and then, years later, you return and even make it to the finals of a competition.
But it faces serious competition.
One of the most charming participants is the “leaf sheep” — a tiny sea slug about the size of a grain of rice. It truly resembles a miniature cartoon sheep with green “leaves” on its back.
Its uniqueness lies not only in its appearance. The slug feeds on algae and is capable of retaining the chloroplasts it obtains from them within its own tissues. Thanks to this, sunlight becomes an additional source of energy for it.
In other words, somewhere in the ocean there exists a tiny “sheep” that looks like a cartoon character and partially lives on solar energy.
Now it remains to be seen who will take the title of “Invertebrate of the Year — 2026”.
But regardless of the result, the giant stick insect has already earned a special award — for the most convincing proof that sometimes the phrase “never give up” works even in the insect world.
