New initiative urges Australians to uncover and photograph backyard bugs

FROM 17-23 November, Australians are being urged to step outside and discover the secret world beneath their feet. Bugs in My Backyard Week is a new national initiative encouraging families, schools and nature lovers to photograph and record the mini-beasts living all around them.

It coincides with the official launch of a national citizen-science project led by the Invasive Species Council with support from Invertebrates Australia and National Geographic.

Every photo uploaded through the free iNaturalist app helps scientists better understand Australia’s hidden biodiversity and could even help stop the next invasive pest before it spreads.

“Bug Hunt turns everyday Aussies, kids, parents, teachers, into wildlife heroes,” said Invasive Species Council’s Citizen Science Coordinator Jess Ward-Jones.

“All you need is your phone and a bit of curiosity.

“Every photo you take helps scientists understand and protect Australia’s incredible wildlife – and could even stop the next fire ant or shothole borer outbreak before it spreads.

“When we say ‘bugs’, we don’t just mean insects – we’re talking about all invertebrates, from beetles and butterflies to snails, spiders, millipedes and worms.”

Around 70 per cent of our native invertebrates are undescribed by Western science.

According to Coordinator Alison Mellor, almost 1000 invertebrate species found in Australia are listed as threatened.

“Australia’s native invertebrates are wonderful, sometimes bizarre and often brilliantly adapted to their environment,” she said.

“We have peacock spiders that dance, beetles that glow and snails found nowhere else on Earth.

“A lovely Christmas beetle or bogong moth on our windowsill is just as fascinating – and important – as a koala or a kookaburra.”

To sign up to the Bug Hunt, go to the free iNaturalist app or bughunt.org.au/.