Tareva-Chine C. Atkin-Zaldivar (The University of Adelaide); Erinn P. Fagan-Jeffries (The University of Adelaide and South Australian Museum). Coccygidium is a genus of parasitoid wasps in the family Braconidae, that despite being recorded as present in Australia in a 2010 publication no Australian species have been described. Overseas, the genus is most notably being trialled as […]
Penelope J. Mills (The University of Queensland); Umar K. Lubanga (Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, Agriculture Victoria); Greg K. Lefoe (Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, Agriculture Victoria). A recently detected pest in Australia is the gymnosperm-feeding giant pine scale Marchalina hellenica (Hemiptera: Marchalinidae). This archaeococcoid scale insect originates from the eastern Mediterranean and in
James T. Buxton (Agriculture Victoria); Caitlin J. Selleck (Agriculture Victoria); Kate S. Sparks (Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry); Lea Rako (Agriculture Victoria); Francesco Martoni (Agriculture Victoria); Isabel Valenzuela (Agriculture Victoria); Mark Blacket (Agriculture Victoria). In Australia, ants play a significant role as ubiquitous and ecologically influential components of terrestrial systems, boasting exceptionally high levels of
Keith M. Bayless (CSIRO Australian National Insect Collection). Flies (Diptera) are among the most poorly known Australian insects. These ecologically labile, fragile insects need specialised techniques to collect and preserve. While technological advances in sequencing and artificial intelligence will streamline aspects of biodiversity characterisation, shifts in researcher mindset and education policy are needed to circumscribe
Erinn P. Fagan-Jeffries (The University of Adelaide & South Australian Museum). Meeting the challenges proposed by the Taxonomy Australia Decadal Plan will require a layered approach. We need to think bigger, and work more collaboratively with each other and with the public. In the field of hymenopteran taxonomy, where we deal with the issues associated
Nicole L. Gunter (The Cleveland Museum of Natural History and Queensland Museum). Australia’s native dung beetles are unique and diverse, representing ~5% of the global dung beetle fauna. The comprehensive revisions of the Australian Scarabaeinae by Matthews (1972, 1974 & 1976) documented 284 native species and provided a framework for subsequent revisions. Since then, just
Adrián Villastrigo (SNSB-Zoologische Staatssammlung München); Steven J. B. Cooper (South Australian Museum and The University of Adelaide); Barbara Langille (The University of Adelaide and Huntsman Marine Science Centre, Canada); Erinn P. Fagan-Jeffries (The University of Adelaide), William F. Humphreys (Western Australian Museum and University of Western Australia); Lars Hendrich (SNSB-Zoologische Staatssammlung München); Michael Balke (SNSB-Zoologische Staatssammlung München
Ying Luo (Australian National Insect Collection, CSIRO and Australian National University) In this talk, I’ll discuss how utilising the free Projects feature on iNaturalist has allowed users to collate over 1000 records of Australian leaf miners. Leaf miners are insects whose larvae feed inside leaves. They leave distinctive trails on leaves, which means that they
Mollie-Rosae Slater-Baker (The University of Adelaide); Andrew D Austin (The University of Adelaide and South Australian Museum); James B Whitfield (Department of Entomology, University of Illinois); Erinn P Fagan-Jeffries (The University of Adelaide and South Australian Museum). Miracinae is a poorly known and rarely collected subfamily of parasitoid wasps belonging to the megadiverse family Braconidae. As parasitoids of leaf-mining caterpillars, they play important
Perry G Beasley-Hall (The University of Adelaide); Steven Trewick (Massey University, New Zealand); Liz Reed (South Australian Museum); Steven J B Cooper (South Australian Museum); Andrew D Austin (The University of Adelaide). Cave crickets (Orthoptera: Rhaphidophoridae) are an understudied group of insects that act as keystone species in subterranean habitats. In the remnants of Gondwana–South America,
