New paper: Australian biosecurity invertebrate interceptions An exciting new paper by Charlotte Lassaline, Erinn Fagan-Jeffries, and collaborators has just been published, presenting the first nine-year overview of terrestrial invertebrate biosecurity interc…

#NewPaper alert! What factors affect incursions of non-native invertebrates across Australia's borders? 9 years of interception data show arrivals follow trade, travel, and seasonality... but species diversity still isn’t plateauing. #bugsky
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Welcome new lab members A big, warm welcome to Dr Maura Haas-Renninger, Andrew Stempel, and Callum Bush – our group’s 3 newest members. We look forward to working and collaborating with you all. Keep reading t…

Our lab is growing! We have new lab members joining us to work on micro-wasps, eyeless spiders, and cave crickets. Read on below to hear about their research. #bugsky 🐝🕷️🦗 invertebratelab.com/2026/03/24/welcome-new-lab-members

A bee without a gut microbiome My recent PhD study on an Australian native solitary bee, Megachile tosticauda, challenges a longheld assumption in insect biology: that all bees rely on a functional gut microbiome. Toda…

Our postdoc @dr-ewilliamson.bsky.social's recent PhD study on an Australian native solitary bee, Megachile tosticauda, challenged a longheld assumption in insect biology: that all bees rely on a functional gut #microbiome. So what happens if it's missing? #bugsky invertebratelab.com/2026/02/24/a...

Branching out: exploring phylogenetics at the University of Sydney At the end of June, a small group of our students were invited to attend a phylogenetics workshop at University of Sydney run by molecular evolution Professor Simon Ho. Shannon, Nicole, Tareva-Chin…

Last year a small group of our students were invited to attend a phylogenetics workshop at The University of Sydney. This was a special chance to meet other students using phylogenetics in a fascinating variety of fields. invertebratelab.com/2025/11/05/b...

World Wasp Day – meet the Wasp Biodiversity Lab at The University of Adelaide Whether it’s ruining a summer picnic or flying ominously around your porch, when you think of wasps it may not be in the most positive light. Despite some bad PR, wasps are very rarely the menace t…

Tiny, helpful wasps are all around us – in our gardens or on the farms that grow our food. Read about the research our Wasp #Biodiversity Group is doing below! invertebratelab.com/2025/09/24/w...

Micropathus ditto (female) in profile sitting on a cave wall. Superimposed in the corner is a sprite of the Pokemon Ditto. Image credit Tim Rudman, source: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/71119620

Macro photos of the morphology of Micropathus zubat, showing the head, ovipositor, and genital plates. Superimposed in the corner is a sprite of the Pokemon Zubat.

Say hi to Micropathus ditto and M. zubat, two #NewSpecies of cave cricket from forests in southern Tasmania! These crickets are threatened by climate change, land clearing, and logging. Giving them names is an important step towards their conservation. But why did we choose these ones? #bugsky 🧵 1/6

High-powered micro-CT imaging at the Australian Synchrotron (Header photo, left to right: Emma, George, Isabella, Natasha, and Ellen) In late June, members of our team and the Quantitative Morphology Group travelled to Melbourne to visit the Australian Sync…

In late June, members of our team visited the Australian Synchrotron in Melbourne. We used their high-power micro-Computed Tomography beamline to capture the internal and external morphology of microscopic beetles. 🪲 #bugsky

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A new doctor and a Dean’s commendation The ISB lab is over the moon to announce our newest PhD completion: soon-to-be Dr Alana McClelland. In June of 2025, Alana submitted her PhD thesis titled: “Phylogenetics and species delimitation o…

We're over the moon to announce our newest PhD completion: soon-to-be Dr Alana McClelland! Alana was awarded a Dean’s Commendation in recognition of the novelty and exceptionally high quality of her research. 🎉 invertebratelab.com/2025/09/05/a...

Lab Retreat in the Gatehouse In May, we undertook the Invertebrate Systematics and Biodiversity Lab’s annual writing retreat. In the past, we’ve held this retreat at the University of Adelaide’s Waite Campus,…

In May, we undertook the Invertebrate Systematics and Biodiversity Lab’s annual writing retreat. This year we returned to the Waite Campus, but at a ‘new-old’ venue: the heritage-listed Waite Gatehouse. invertebratelab.com/2025/07/14/l...

Three new cricket species discovered from caves in southeast Australia Three new species of cave cricket have been named in a taxonomic paper by ISB members Dr Perry Beasley-Hall (lead author), Dr Brock Hedges, Prof. Steve Cooper, and Prof. Andy Austin. Published in A…

A new paper led by ISB postdoc @pbeasleyhall.bsky.social has named three new cricket species from caves and mines in Australia's southeast. Read more about the discovery here! ⬇️ invertebratelab.com/2025/07/08/t... #bugsky

I’ve departed for a JSPS Research Fellowship In June of 2025, I did something I had never done before, I moved overseas! I’m off on a new adventure: a two-year fellowship in Matsue, Japan. I’m here to research the climate change v…

@dr-brock-hedges.bsky.social, an ISB Lab alumnus, is off to Japan for a prestiguous JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship! Brock will be investigating climate change resilience in basket clams using eDNA and physiological experiments. Hear more about his adventure below! invertebratelab.com/2025/06/24/j...

Congratulations, Brock!

The Australian Plague Locust Commission has a fully funded PhD opportunity available! Both international and domestic students are eligible. EOI closes July 28. #bugsky #entomology

Congratulations to our graduating students in May! May marked an exciting milestone for several of our students, who have graduated after years of dedicated study and hard work. Please join us in congratulating them!  Tiahni Bament – Bachelor of Sc…

May marked an exciting milestone for three students in the ISB lab, who have graduated after years of dedicated study and hard work. Please join us in congratulating them! invertebratelab.com/2025/06/06/c...

Searching for beetles beneath the desert A journey into Australia’s hidden aquifers In May, some members of the ISB lab, Elisabeth Williamson, George Zhao and Steve Cooper, along with Bill Humphreys from the Western Australian Museu…

In May, members of the ISB lab went on a field trip across the Nullarbor Plain to rural Western Australia. Their mission? To sample something rarer than gold: subterranean diving beetles. #bugsky invertebratelab.com/2025/06/10/s...

Visiting Researcher: Dr Luke Kresslein Throughout April of 2025, the Invertebrate Systematics and Biodiversity Lab was lucky enough to host Dr Luke Kresslein as a visiting researcher from the United States Department of Agriculture (USD…

In April the ISB Lab was lucky enough to host Dr Luke Kresslein as a visiting researcher from the USDA! Luke is a leading systematist based at the Smithsonian and works on the wasp family Aphelinidae. invertebratelab.com/2025/05/19/v... #bugsky

From field to refuge: Are green bridges supporting natural enemies over summer? Managing the green bridges in and around canola fields pre-season helps reduce the risk of early season pest and disease outbreaks. Pests don’t take a break between seasons—so why should we?🌱 Unwan…

Ever wondered if aphids can be mummified? Wonder no more! Kudzaishe Precious is a PhD student in the ISB Lab working on the smart surveillance of parasitoid wasps and their aphid hosts. #bugsky
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Climate change and freshwater rock pool biodiversity In arid and semi-arid regions, majority of the freshwater ecosystems are temporary, meaning they only hold water for a certain period of time while staying dry for the rest of the year (sometimes e…

Our members don't just work on insects—some of us focus on entire ecological communities. Kantine Liu studies how climate change will impact the #biodiversity of ephemeral freshwater rock pools in Australia's arid lands. Learn more about their research in our latest newsletter! 💧🏜️ #ecology

New paper: student research helps improve biocontrol in the US Sometimes our research makes waves around the world! A paper that one of our students recently published details the impacts that her PhD research has had on a biocontrol program in the United Stat…

Why does #taxonomy matter? Describing new native species can improve how we control invasive ones. A new wasp species discovered by Alana McClelland, a PhD student in the ISB Lab, will impact the management of invasive paperbark trees in Florida. Read more below 👇 #bugsky #biocontrol

New Year, New Lab Members, New Website! 2025 is well underway and the ISB Lab is in full swing! We’ve had plenty of new personnel join, with both staff and students joining the ranks of our avid research team. Staff joining our tea…

Hi, Bluesky! We're a research group from the University of Adelaide, South Australia. We've just launched a new website and are revamping our social media presence. It's good to be here. 🪲 #bugsky

For more lab news, check out our newsletter below. invertebratelab.com/2025/04/01/n...