Biosecurity Blitz19 October to 16 November The rhythm of the nightOne more week to go until the Biosecurity Blitz 2020 ends on 16 November. Thanks to all that have made reports so far! If you haven't found your rhythm yet, no worries, there is still time to:
Acknowledgement of CountryWe acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognise their continuing connection to the land, sea and community. We pay our respects to them and their cultures; and to their Elders past, present and future. Let's celebrate NAIDOC week'National Aborigines & Islanders Day Observance Committee' Learn about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities this week. Check what events are on in your community. We are fortunate to have one of the richest and oldest continuing cultures in the world. This is something we should all share, be proud of, celebrate and learn more about. TIP: Permission is not required to fly the Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander flags but permission should be sought to reproduce any flag for a flyer or a poster. TIP: When out walking on country it is important to conduct yourself appropriately. And while you are out on country, make sure to not only observe with your eyes, but also with your ears! Let's celebrate IYPH 2020Show the world how protecting plant health can help protect the environment and boost economic development. In Mooro Country, WA’s Noongar (Nyungar) people protect important plants and maintain their local knowledge of native plants in the Yellagonga Regional Park. The wetlands were used extensively for hunting, food-gathering, social, ceremonial and recreational purposes and formed part of a north-south link of rivers, lakes and wetlands along the Swan Coastal Plain. Read, Plants and People in Mooro country and learn about the amazing plants, including Sundews (Drosera sp.) which require cool nights for digestion. Gnat on a sundew in Yellagonga Regional Park, WA. A sundew bug Setocoris sp. (Hemiptera: Miridae) on Caladenia brunonis feeding on the insects captured by the sundew. Clever bug! ‘Yellagonga’ was named after the leader of the Mooro people. Carnivorous plants catch insects using sticky secretions and use enzymes to break down their prey and produce food energy for themsleves. WA is a global biodiversity hotspot for carnivorous plants. They occur in the south-west corner and the Kimberley region where the soils are very poor. Drosera sp.are carnivorous plants which have ‘adhesive’ hairs that secrete sticky glue full of enzymes to help dissolve the insects they catch. Bill’s trendy garden pestsWe all know how important it is to relax after a period of work, but it's essential for biosecurity emergency response staff like Incident Controller Bill Trend (man in white) who loves to spend his spare time tending his garden and practicing his metal work. For those of you who like to capture images of bountiful butterflies, hordes of hoverflies, cavalcades of caterpillars or a gang of grasshoppers then beautify your garden with native plants and trendy garden ornaments like Bill's DIY insect stakes! Bill's trendy garden stakes are great for labelling plants too, so you don't forget their scientific names. Or... Be more selective and use them as trendy artwork for predatory spiders and assassin bugs to hide and ambush prey, or have a nice place to sleep until dark. Bill Trend’s homemade garden gnomes are actually beneficial insects. Can you identify each to the correct taxonomic order? A Top 10 Taxonomist!Queensland scientist Geoff Monteith was recently included in the world’s top 10 list of commemorated scientists for having had 225 insect species and 15 genera named after him. Congratulations! If you have interests in taxonomy, systematics, diagnostics or surveillance, please join the network and help our Triage Officer Nadine Guthrie identify organisms! Whether the weather matters?Using weather data, scientists are able to create climate maps (see below) to predict where damaging crop pests such as the recent invader Fall armyworm (above), can survive. When suitable host plants are present, the climate matched scenarios show us it is even more likely this strong flying moth will become a permanent pest in Australia. Distribution of FAW using climate and plant matching models showing a) present, b) optimistic and c) pessimistic scenarios. However, research has shown competition between species can help slow down expansion of pests into new territories, so avoid spraying out native species, such as this similar looking armyworm. Report similar armyworms like this native species using MyPestGuide™ Reporter. Learn more about how climate change and how it might affect your daily life. Will the creatures in your backyard still be there in the future, or will they go extinct? Exploring the land of extreme climate changes helps to give us answers to these questions. So why not head south to Antarctica or north to the Arctic and learn a little more. Why do farmers talk so much about the weather?The weather determines everything for food producers - how the crop grows, whether they can get in the field, stock health, how the equipment runs. Yet they have no control over it….so talking is good therapy, but having good weather data is even better! Did you know DPIRD has its own weather network made up of 181 automatic weather stations, including the Bureau of Meteorology radar information? Check out the video to see what’s new! Don’t forget to download the DPIRD weather station app and live stream weather data to your mobile device anytime, anywhere....if you are in WA.. Weather data includes everything a food producer or gardener might wish to know! The 30-Day Challenge is a set of activities designed to test your surveillance skills. Download the 30-Day Calendar of activities and complete each in any order. Survey different habitats and help build a reporting community by taking part in the Biosecurity Blitz School Challenge. When the sun goes downThis week's activities will get you outside under the cover of darkness to see what critters you can catch in the night! Magical moths pollinate at night!Moths pollinate flowers and other plants at night, but science has only recently uncovered in detail how important their efforts really are. Southern Old Lady Moth, Dasypodia selenophora (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) View your local nocturnal insects by building a light trap. It’s super easy! Find out for yourself what sort of ‘street diversity’ of moths you have. Native Goat Moth or Carpenter Moth, Endoxyla species (Lepidoptera: Cossidae) Native leaf case moth species, likely Hyalarcta nigrescens (Lepidoptera: Psychidae) Another Goat Moth or Carpenter Moth, Endoxyla species (Lepidoptera: Cossidae) found on the local public transport step by an early morning reporter. Native Western Australian Moth, Moerarchis clathrata (Lepidoptera: Tineidae) Think about how the world might differ with less light pollution at night and more pollinators at night…stars too! Moving toward a world that values insects is not science-fiction, it’s undisputed fact - insects provide billions of dollars, worth of vital pollination services to human agriculture. Grape vine hawk moth, Hippotion celerio (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) Plants at night, like the right kind of lightDid you know a successful immune response for a plant, to combat environmental signals and stresses such as an attack by a pathogen, depends on the plant’s circadian clock. All plants require light for photosynthesis, this process lets a plant convert light, oxygen and water into carbohydrates (energy). If you want to keep your plants healthy, red and blue lights in the electromagnetic spectrum are the most useful for a plant to grow. To grow your plant knowledge and learn how exotic plants might differ from native plants ask a horticulturalist the next time you visit your local nursery. European honey bee, Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae) on a native plant, Scaevola thesioides (Campanulales: Goodeniaceae) A trigger plant, possibly the common native butterfly trigger plant, Stylidium piliferum (Asterales: Stylidiaceae) from Western Australia. Envy the EmbiopteraWeb-spinners, what a wonderful delight! Embioptera (Embiidina) is a strange, small order of insects that share similarities with stoneflies (Plecoptera), earwigs (Dermaptera), angel insects (Zoraptera), cockroaches and termites (Blattodea) and stick-insects (Phasmatodea). These secretive, understudied and harmless creatures live gregariously, in sub-social galleries made of fine silk, spun from glands located on their forelegs. Spinner colonies are comprised of related females plus their offspring that rarely venture out except to search for new food. Males often have wings and can disperse by flying using simple hydraulics. Chambers in the wings are inflated with hemolymph (blood), making them rigid, then after landing, the chambers deflate and the wings become flexible agian, folding back against the body. Now, what is the advantage of having flexible wings? If you wish to find Embiids check on the outer bark of trees, dead leaves, moss and lichens. Read and learn more about my favourite herbivore. National SnapshotSo far 2058 observations have been sent in from around Australia! Coming up...There is one more week to Blitz! Tell your mates so they don’t miss out and make sure you are doing your bit to protect Australia's biosecurity future. Next week, we focus on man-made environments and the network we move in. Sign up to receive the weekly newsletter before it's too late! Important disclaimer The Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development and the State of Western Australia accept no liability whatsoever by reason of negligence or otherwise arising from the use or release of this information or any part of it. Copyright © Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, 2020 |