SPECIES: Thaumatoperla alpina — Alpine Stonefly
CLASSIFICATION: Endangered
Rarer than many alpine mammals and far more ancient, Thaumatoperla alpina — the Alpine Stonefly — is a cold-country survivor that almost never leaves the shadows of Australia’s highest peaks. With its striking black-and-orange body and long, delicate wings it seldom uses, this enigmatic insect spends most of its multi-year life creeping along icy alpine streams. It is a creature finely tuned to snowmelt rhythms, pristine water, and temperatures that hover just above freezing — conditions that make the Australian Alps feel like home to almost nothing else.
Yet this specialist is standing on rapidly thinning ice. Climate change is shrinking the snowpack and warming the meltwater it depends on, while bushfires, trampling, and disturbance threaten the tiny network of streams where it clings to existence. Because the Alpine Stonefly is so range-restricted and sensitive to water quality, even subtle shifts can push it toward collapse.
Photo: Richard Camilleri