An exciting update in 2024… because we found so many new insects that had not been DNA barcoded before, iBOL and the Centre of Biodiversity Genomics in Canada asked if they could sequence more of our specimens! In 2022, we were able to sequence around… Read More »More barcodes!
Yeronga State School in Brisbane finds first record of the fly genus Alepia in Australia! Of all the insects that the Yeronga students caught in their Malaise trap, this tiny fly is probably not what they thought scientists would find exciting. But when we were… Read More »Alepia – the hitchhiker fly!
A Taxonomist Tale by Dr Nikolas Johnston ABRS postdoctoral fellow, School of Life Sciences, University of Technology, Sydney. The Miltogramminae are a group of flesh flies that are known for their interesting parasitic behaviour. The females of these flies lay their larvae alive and wriggling and… Read More »Aenimetopia – an enigmatic fly found by Insect Investigators!
Your insect specimens have added a few stamps to their passports recently. They’ve been on a first-class trip around the world, destination: Canada! The sorted specimens have now landed in Guelph, where they’ve been received by the Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, so they can be… Read More »Your insects have touched down in Canada!
The Insect Investigators sorting team has been hard at work these past few months and has now processed all 200 Malaise trap bottles! We’ve sorted all of the specimens to ‘Order’ level. Now we’re working at double speed to pull out all of the target… Read More »Next step: DNA barcoding!
After the biomass is weighed, the traps are then sorted to Order! Find out how that happens by watching the video.
Last week Dr Andy Howe from the University of the Sunshine Coast visited Insect Investigators HQ in Adelaide to help us measure the biomass of the samples. Watch the video below to find out why and how we’re doing this experiment!
Want to keep up with everything that’s going on in the project? You can read our first newsletter here! Don’t forget you can join the mailing list to get regular updates.
We’re hosting a webinar series where we’ll hear from a different arthropod taxonomist each month! For the first episode, join Dr Mark Harvey from the Western Australian Museum to learn all about his favourite arachnids! 31 March, 11:30 ACDT (SA time). A recording will be… Read More »Meet the Taxonomist series
Insect collecting kits have begun arriving at schools all across Australia, and we couldn’t be more excited! They’re being delivered to schools all over the country, many in very remote communities! We’re excited to announce the 50 schools that have been selected to participate in… Read More »Kits are on their way!