Words: Samantha Ward If I ask you what is involved in studying for a PhD, a Doctor of Philosophy, a higher or postgraduate degree in science, what do you envisage? The terms are different, but I’m sure the image is the same. How do you imagine a Science PhD? Credit: Cindy Schultz via Flickr Most people […]
Words: Samantha Ward The duck-billed platypus has always been something of an enigma. When the first pelt and sketch were sent back to Europe at the end of the 18th century, many British scientists refused to accept the platypus was a real organism. Instead, they believed it was an assortment of animal parts that had been […]
Words: Samantha Ward Friend or foe? When you look at your fluffy pet cat curled up beside you on the sofa, do you see a cute companion or a calculating killer? Cute companion or calculating killer? Credit: Author’s own. I’m going to assume the former, but now let me ask you this: Do you let […]
Words: Samantha Ward We’re going to the zoo, zoo, zoo. How about you, you, you…?” Perhaps you remember singing the song when you were a child. If you do, you probably have it stuck in your head now! If you don’t, I’m sure you remember those fun-filled zoo days watching gigantic elephants spraying themselves with […]
Image credit: Zootaxa Congratulations to Ann for being recognised for her extensive contributions to our understanding of Australian flies. A species of Victorian fungus gnat (Diptera: Sciaridae) has been formally described and named Austrosciara stockerae. You can read about the taxonomic details in a recent Zootaxa article here. The dedication blurb A bit about Ann […]
Words and images: Vanessa White Some important lessons learnt and new questions around Vandiemenella laboratory rearing In the previous grasshopper blog, I reported “reasonable success with room for improvement” in our attempts to rear Vandiemenella grasshopper nymphs in the laboratory. Alternative housing is an important focus for improvement, but a discussion with Mike and Ary […]
Words: Vanessa White Images: Mike Kearney and Vanessa White Why Australian grasshoppers are fantastic research subjects: The Morabine grasshoppers (subfamily Morabinae) commonly known as “matchstick grasshoppers” are endemic to Australia and comprise 40 genera and around 250 species (Rentz 1996). Both sexes are wingless with a characteristic matchstick-like appearance. Some Morabine species have been studied […]
Words: Mengjia Liu Images: Perran Ross and Mengjia Liu It is important to study the fitness of different colonies of Wolbachia-infected mosquitoes, and also of interest to test fitness effects within the same colony when mosquitoes are maintained under different conditions. As we have been maintaining uninfected mosquitoes under laboratory conditions for over 25 generations, […]
Aedes notoscriptus has been identified in association with the emerging bacterial pathogen Mycobacterium ulcerans, which causes Buruli ulcer, as well as being a vector of Ross River virus. Key ecological features such as bloodmeal feeding patterns and movement dynamics of individuals are however not clearly defined. This project will involve both laboratory and field-based components. Field […]
Words: Anne Aulsebrook Cover image: Mount Rothwell Conservation and Research Centre An article published in 1934 describes the flavour of bandicoot stew. ‘After chewing a mouthful I gave up.’ The writer states, ‘The stew tasted like roots. I have not sampled stewed bandicoot since.’ At the time of the article, bandicoots in Australia were already […]
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