Tag: Agriculture
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New publication: Ecological impacts of pesticides and their mitigation within IPM systems
Pest control is recognised as an important part of crop production. Against a background of increasing concern for chemical impacts on the environment, Integrated Pest Management programs have been developed where chemical application and natural enemy enhancement work together to maintain productivity with reduced environmental impact. Such programs require good science, general theory and strong […] -
With great power comes great responsibility…
Words: Samantha Ward Images: Words: Samantha Ward & Marianne Coquilleau Flying the flag for the PEARG lab! [Photo credit: Marianne Coquilleau] I am a scientist. A taxonomist, to be more specific. Taxonomy is the study of naming, defining, and categorising organisms. There’s a job for that?! Actually, we still have no idea how many species […]blogs.unimelb.edu.au/pearg/2019/12/19/with-great-power-comes-great-responsibility
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MSc projects 2020 – Students wanted
We are seeking motivated MSc students to apply for several projects starting next year. Enquiries via pearg-queries@unimelb.edu.au Project 1/4: Exploring bacterial symbionts for agricultural pest control PEARG is researching ways to control important agricultural pests such as aphids and mites that cause millions of dollars in damage to crops each year in Australia. This project […]blogs.unimelb.edu.au/pearg/2019/06/14/msc-projects-2020-students-wanted
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New open access paper: Morphological and molecular analysis of Australian earwigs (Dermaptera) points to unique species and regional endemism in the Anisolabididae family
Words and images: Oliver Stuart Link to open access paper Earwigs (Dermaptera) are a challenging group of insects to study. In Australia, earwigs are variously known as pests, predators of pests (so, beneficial insects), or both at once depending on the crop type and other particulars. The invasive Forficula auricularia (the European earwig) is the […] -
An adventure in Alice at the AES conference 2018
Header photo: Marianne Coquilleau, Samantha Ward, Xuan Cheng, Josh Douglas, Tom Schmidt and Oliver Stuart Words: Oliver Stuart and Samantha Ward Introduction This past September was the 49th Annual General Meeting and Scientific Conference of the Australian Entomological Society (AES). The Society publishes an Australia-focused journal and maintains, through its membership, a network of professional […]blogs.unimelb.edu.au/pearg/2019/01/08/an-adventure-in-alice-at-the-aes-conference-2018
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The economic benefit of biodiversity in agriculture
Words: Linda Thomson Image: Zagrammosoma latilineatum by Elia Pirtle Along with sustainability, biodiversity is a current catchword. Our work demonstrating the benefits of non crop vegetation on increasing biodiversity and especially “beneficials’ which contribute to pest control in crops. Enthusiasm for the project is shown by the excellent attendance at a recent workshop – report of […]blogs.unimelb.edu.au/pearg/2018/09/07/the-economic-benefit-of-biodiversity-in-agriculture
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A new and unusual Wolbachia bacteria from Drosophila flies limited to the female sex
Words: Ary Hoffmann Cover image: Perran Ross As Wolbachia bacteria that live inside insect cells continue to be discovered and studied in detail, our appreciation of the diverse ways in which these bacteria interact with their hosts continues to expand. In past work we have found Wolbachia that cause embryo death when infected males mate […] -
Biology of the babushkas
Words: Samantha Ward As the name suggests, at the Pest & Environmental Adaptation Research Group we are interested in pest species and enjoy investigating novel approaches to sustainably control such organisms. I began my PhD at PEARG in 2016 studying parasitoid wasps; A group of wasps that lay their eggs inside or onto other arthropods. […]blogs.unimelb.edu.au/pearg/2018/05/10/biology-of-the-babushkas
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Rapid evolution in insect pest species
Off the back of a review Ary wrote last year in Current Opinion in Insect Science, a less technical and more digestible summary is now available (sans pay-wall) at Science Trends. A Quote from the Science Trends article to grab your interest: Evolutionary changes often occur when pest species invade new areas where they have […]blogs.unimelb.edu.au/pearg/2018/04/30/rapid-evolution-in-insect-pest-species
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What’s in a (species) name? Using genetics to map the hidden diversity of earwigs
Written by Oliver Stuart, Image credit: Ryan Hodnett [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], from Wikimedia Commons There are a lot of different insects; this cannot be overstated. Of the roughly 2 million animal species (that we know of), insects make up well over half. This mega-diversity has been a source of delight for biologists for centuries, […]
Number of posts found: 22