A photographic census of Australia’s native insects and other bugs \u2014 and their unwelcome invasive counterparts \u2014 has been launched across Australia.<\/p>\n
The national citizen science project, dubbed Bug Hunt and developed jointly by Invertebrates Australia, the Invasive Species Council, and Australian Geographic, is intended to build a comprehensive catalogue of Australian garden life.<\/p>\n
The images and information \u2014 collected and submitted by the public \u2014 will be used to track the spread of damaging exotic pests including fire ants, yellow crazy ants and large earth bumblebees.<\/p>\n
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Yellow crazy ants are an invasive species which threatens Australian wildlife. (Supplied: Malcolm Tattersal)<\/p>\n
It will also expand the scientific community’s collective knowledge bank to help conserve endangered native insects, spiders, worms, snails and other cryptic species.<\/p>\n
Invertebrates Australia said about 70 per cent of Australia’s native insects, worms, spiders and snails were yet to be formally described by scientists.<\/p>\n
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The newly discovered bird dropping beetle (Exastra albopilosa). (supplied: James Tweed, Australian Entomological Society)<\/p>\n
Invasive Species Council citizen science coordinator Jess Ward-Jones said the project would enlist an army of citizen scientists to photograph insects and other invertebrates, and then upload the images and simple geographical data to the iNaturalist AU database.<\/p>\n
“When we say ‘bugs’, we don’t just mean insects. We’re also talking about all invertebrates from beetles and butterflies, to spiders, millipedes, snails and worms,” Ms Ward-Jones said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Every photo taken will help scientists understand and protect Australia’s wildlife.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Christmas beetles (Anoplognathus spp.) have apparently disappeared from many locations. (Supplied: Minibeast Wildlife)<\/p>\n
Ms Ward-Jones said the Bug Hunt could help with biosecurity, allowing scientists to track the spread of invasive species.<\/p>\n
“Right now, fire ants are marching through parts of Queensland and could spread across Australia, potentially devastating wildlife, our way of life and costing the economy $2billion a year if we don’t contain them,” Ms Ward-Jones said.<\/p>\n
“These invaders move fast and travel silently \u2014 through pot plants, mulch or stormwater drains \u2014 and, by the time authorities detect them, it’s often too late.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“That’s why citizen science is such a powerful tool in our biosecurity arsenal.”<\/p>\n
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Jess Ward-Jones says Bug Hunt could help with biosecurity. (Supplied: Hayden Starr)<\/p>\n
How it works<\/p>\n
Once a photo of an insect or other invertebrate is taken, the photographer is asked to upload the image and other observational information using the free iNaturalist app.<\/p>\n
Approved insect experts from within the community then identify and catalogue them for further scientific research.<\/p>\n
“We know some nature lovers are snapping away on iNaturalist already, and in some cases, it has led to really important information, including detecting new incursions of invasive species,” Ms Ward-Jones said.<\/p>\n
“The Bug Hunt is about turning curiosity into mass participation. The more eyes out there, the more vital information we can feed back to iNaturalist’s experts.”<\/p>\n
The international iNaturalist online photo gallery and databank was founded in 2008.<\/p>\n
It included a comparatively small number of submissions from Australian contributors.<\/p>\n
iNaturalist Australia, managed by the Atlas of Living Australia, was officially launched in 2019 with the overall number of observations submitted passing 10 million last year.<\/p>\n
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Thomas Mesaglio photographing a Leichhardt’s grasshopper in Kakadu National Park. (Supplied: Kate Mesaglio)<\/p>\n
Platform administrator Thomas Mesaglio said submissions often featured more visible animals, including mammals, birds, reptiles and even fish, and that Bug Hunt would greatly expand the number of invertebrate submissions.<\/p>\n
“Almost 80,000 users from around Australia have contributed over 4.5 million records of invertebrates so far, making it an important source of opportunistic data on our country’s\u00a0amazing\u00a0invertebrate diversity,” Mr Mesaglio said.<\/p>\n
“Records will help contribute to understanding where and when Australia’s invertebrate species can be found, and how these broad patterns may be changing over time.”<\/p>\n
“This will be important for both common species that can easily be found in our gardens and backyards across the country, and also for species that are rarely observed or documented.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Bug Hunt encourages community members to become citizen scientists. (Supplied: Peter Crowcroft)<\/p>\n
Insect of the year<\/p>\n
Bug Hunt coincides with the ABC’s search for the country’s most popular insect for 2025. Voting is already underway for the ABC Australian Insect of the Year.<\/p>\n