the needle is definatly missing,be carefull when you put the needle back in your engine looks like there is alot of wood dust that stuff can clog the needle area up.
those little buggers(the clickers my LHS calls em) snap off all the time there about 2$ so its no big deal the metal is so thin it doesn't take much.
denatured alcohol will clean the engine area and thinned epoxy,or fuel proof dope works for protecting the wood from fuel soaking into it.