Spotlight on insects at two scientific conferences
Assassin bugs, biting midges, parasitic wasps and mosquitoes are some of the insects to be hotly discussed at the first of two entomological conferences in Brisbane this month.
About 150 scientists will attend the 29th annual meeting of the Australian Entomological Society at the University of Queensland from Saturday, September 26 to Monday, September 28.
Organising committee member Associate Professor Myron Zalucki of the University of Queensland said scientists would discuss research on controlling and identifying mosquitoes, and using the Southern Oscillation Index to predict numbers of cases of Ross River virus, as well as forest entomology and migration in insects.
He said assassin bugs and parastic wasps were used for biological control of pests in horticulture, forestry and agriculture.
"Using insects for controlling insect pests is much safer for the environment than using chemical-based pesticides," he said. "New and improved biological control methods will be revealed at the conference, which will also highlight computer-based research."
Dr Zalucki said some scientists had developed 3D computer simulations for insect movement, while others relied on weather patterns and computer models to research migration, for example, in butterflies.
The conference logo is a rare yellow Queensland bug with pink legs and bright red spots, the Petocopta crasiventris, which remained an enigma until the early 1960s when a colony was found breeding on a shady tree of Mallotus discolor growing in the beer garden of the Chevron Hotel in Surfers Paradise. Several UQ students studied its life history and morphology at this "field location." When the hotel's beer garden was redeveloped in the 1970s, the tree was destroyed and the bug not seen until 1996 when it was discovered on the same tree species a few kilometres away in the Tallebudgera Valley.
The second conference of entomologists to be held at the University of Queensland this month is the sixth Australasian Applied Entomological Research (AAERC) conference from September 29 to October 2.
Three hundred scientists are expected to attend this conference, to be opened on September 30 by the Director-General of the Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Dr Warren Hoey, following field trips for scientists on September 29.
The AAERC conference will focus on the theme: Pest management - future challenges.
Keynote addresses from speakers from the US, New Zealand, England and Australia will cover subjects as diverse as prospects, pitfalls and challenges of applied entomology for the next millennium, to the quarantine implications of global trade.
Sessions of media interest include
o symposium two: on managing the new genetically-modified plants;
o symposium five: the safety of biological control;
o symposium six: pest management in a global free trade village: prospects and pitfalls (discussions include the papaya fruitfly, the golden apple snail and the spiralling whitefly in Australia); and
o symposium seven: predicting and managing key outbreak species.
Further information on the conferences is available at the Web sites:
www.uq.edu.au/entomology/entsoc/entoconf.html and www.ctpm.uq.edu.au/Education/AppliedEnto.html
Media: For further information, contact Dr Zalucki (telephone 07 3365 2194 M.Zalucki@mailbox.uq.edu.au), or during the conferences, Sally Brown (telephone mobile 019 175 474 or work 07 3365 6360, email: sally.brown@mailbox.uq.edu.au).
m all year round, even when there was no breeding.
This again was unusual - most lizards do not start producing sperm until the springtime - and might partly explain the prolific breeding of bearded dragons, he said.
During many hours spent sitting quietly on Laidley golf course observing these lizards, Mr Amey watched their social displays of head bobbing, arm waving, fighting between males and courtship, and became one of the few scientists ever to record actual matings.
"I saw them mating many times and was surprised how quick it was. It was all over in about 30 seconds although I did see one pair mate four times in about half an hour."
Large males patrolled their territory, puffing themselves up to scare off other mature males and fighting with them when that did not work. Mr Amey found each male had between three and seven females in his area.
There were also a number of young males in each territory but Mr Amey said he never saw these mating. He said mature males tolerated the young males, perhaps because they mistook them for females as they were about the same size.
Mr Amey said more research was needed on the evolution of bearded dragons and to compare them with other species, some of which were similar in many respects but not faring nearly so well.
For further information, contact Andrew Amey (telephone 3840 7705).
