Strong public reporting has helped locate and destroy early nests. Sustained effort over the next few months will determine whether eradication succeeds.
Articles on Biocontrol
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Mosquitoes cause around a million deaths per year. So, scientists are coming up with genetic engineering techniques that could lower their numbers.
Fruit flies wreak havoc on crops in Hawaii, but a type of parasitoid wasp armed with a biological weapon has helped keep the pests at bay.
Six fungi species were tested and three were found fast and effective at infecting and destroying woolly apple aphids.
In a sense, a malaria-transmitting mosquito is a sick mosquito. This is where bacteria can help.
Water lettuce forms dense mats on the water surface. This can reduce light penetration and oxygen levels in the water, negatively affecting all aspects of aquatic life.
It’s a horror story unfolding in the west that could sweep across the country. Beware the shot-hole borer, an exotic pest that threatens our tree crops, plantations, urban forests and wild places.
Spiders liquefy their prey in order to consume it, and this makes it challenging to determine what spiders eat. A new approach that uses DNA barcoding is helping researchers figure out spider diets.
Enormous cane toads in Australia are not new – but we might see even larger ones as predators figure out how to eat these introduced toxic toads.
The varroa mite’s arrival in Australia was only a matter of time. We could benefit from one pest fighting another.
New research finds 74% of land managers who reported releasing a powerful biocontrol release it during the peak rabbit breeding period. This can lead to rabbit populations actually increasing.
Parasitic wasps are body-snatchers — if you’re an insect. But these much-maligned creatures have saved millions of human lives by controlling the spread of the cassava mealybug.
We can fine-tune bacteria using algorithms to help them produce the things we need, from antibiotics to methane.
Technology is allowing scientists to better understand fungal viruses, with the aim of managing them more effectively.
This stroke of serendipity shows how much there is still to be learned about the natural history of Australia. Surely more surprises are out there waiting for us.
Bee colonies are threatened by a mite. However, a different mite has been evaluated for its potential to address this threat.
New genetic knowledge about cane toads could give us the knowledge we need to throw some more roadblocks in front of this persistent invader as it marches across Australia.
Feral rabbits previously exposed to myxoma virus are more likely to be killed by rabbit haemorrhagic diease, meaning that these two biocontrol agents can become even more powerful when used in tandem.
Not all bugs are bad! Put down the pesticides and get to know the predators and parasites hidden around you.
Famine weed spreads rapidly and is devastatingly destructive. Biocontrol is one way of dealing with the problem.
Top contributors
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Professor in Microbiology and Molecular Biology, UNSW
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PhD Candidate Invasive Species Management, University of the Witwatersrand
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Doctorant en automatique, Inria
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Matthew Flinders Professor of Global Ecology and Node Leader in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous and Environmental Histories and Futures, Flinders University
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PhD candidate, UNSW
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Professor in Evolutionary Biology, Macquarie University
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Senior Lecturer, School of Biological Sciences, Adelaide University
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Adjunct Professor, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph
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Adjunct Professor, The University of Western Australia
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Research Scientist, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph
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Professor in Zoology, James Cook University
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Previous Vice President of the Academy of Science of South Africa and DSI-NRF SARChI chair in Fungal Genomics, Professor in Genetics, University of Pretoria, University of Pretoria
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Professor, Integrative Biology, University of Guelph
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PhD Candidate, Integrative Biology, University of Guelph
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Adjunct researcher, Flinders University