Some of the many species in the Australian National Insect Collection.
CSIRO/Alan Landford
At least 100,000 insects are among the many Australian species still to be formally identified. That’s a problem for any biosecurity experts who need to be able to spot potentially invasive bugs.
Mark Mallott / Rothamsted Research
A ‘Biblical swarm’ of ‘super-moths’ from continental Europe is heading to the UK.
Springtails come in variety of shapes and sizes.
Springtail image from www.shutterstock.com
Springtails are found in every habitat except the oceans.
Social insects such as bees live in a common nest site.
EPA/Peter Komka
By working together, social insects are able to fix a small failure before it becomes a larger one.
Humidity levels can mean life or death for insects.
Hasna Lahmini
Detecting drier or wetter conditions is crucial for insect survival. We’ve long known they can do this – now researchers have discovered the genetic and neural basis for their humidity-sensing system.
Mosquitoes, thousands of mosquitoes! Mosquitoes found in our local wetlands can often overwhelm us but even mosquitoes that have moved into our backyards can cause problems.
A war is raging in your backyard between the “good” and “bad” mosquitoes.
They might be eating your home, but termites play a vital role in ecosystems.
Termite image from www.shutterstock.com
Termite damage costs Australian homes at least a billion dollars each year – but they are absolutely vital for ecosystems.
Are compound eyes the window to the soul?
Gilles San Martin/Flickr
Insects have similar structures in their brains as do we, and that might mean that have a basic form of consciousness.
The common grey silverfish, Ctenolepisma longicaudata, in Sydney.
Graeme Smith
Silverfish have disappeared from our homes as book-bindings - their favourite food - have improved.
The American Cockroach, one of the most common species found in your home.
Cockroach image from www.shutterstock.com
There are over 5,000 species of cockroach, but fortunately only a few have chosen to live with us.
Latrodectus hasseltii, the redback spider.
Toby Hudson/Wikimedia Commons
Be thankful you aren’t a male redback spider.
Fungus gnats are one the many arthropods that find their way into our homes.
Gnat image from www.shutterstock.com
Our homes harbour hundreds of species of insects and their relatives.
The cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis) female full of eggs.
Jan Slapeta
Fleas have lived with people for as long as people have lived with pets.
NASA’s Aqua satellite, carrying sensors used by researchers to measure mosquito-favoring environmental conditions on Earth.
NASA
Satellite imaging can locate mosquito-friendly environments, allowing us to predict the advance of diseases they carry.
Gilles San Martin
Why forensic investigators and evolutionary scientists love these blood-sucking insects.
They might get even bigger.
Melbourne Museum
The chance discovery of an enormous stick insect has led to a breeding program that might lead to a world record for Australia.
A hoverfly on a sunflower.
David Kleijn
Next time you reach for the honey, spare a thought for the other vital insects that pollinate our crops.
Smoky, almost irreverent.
Justin Schmidt
To understand why insects sting and why the stings of such tiny animals hurt so much, we first needed a way to measure the pain they cause. So I created a sting pain index.
Alias 0591
We should value even the tiniest insects that have no impact on our lives.
Many more where these came from.
Shutterstock
A good summer picnic, bushwalk or barbecue with friends and family can all be ruined by those annoying flies that never leave you alone. So what are they after?