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Insect Watch

Think you’ve found a dangerous new insect but need help identifying it?

Our Work  |  Invasive insects  |  Insect Watch

Keep an eye out for these insect invaders

Australia already has more than its fair share of harmful insects that are not native to the country but are causing massive harm to our native plants, animals and ecosystems. 

Invasive insects attack and kill our native animals, out-compete our native insects, carry diseases and attack our Australian plant species. 

We must do all we can to keep other invasive insects from entering Australia, and control and where possible eradicate those already here.

Browsing ant

Browsing ant

The browsing ant is a concerning ant from the Mediterranean region whose domineering supercolonies displace native ants.
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Electric ant

Electric ant

A dreaded ant, the electric ant is under eradication from north Queensland, whose dense supercolonies dominate landscapes ecologically, displacing other…
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Red imported fire ant

Red imported fire ant

A prolific stinging ant from South America that kills wildlife, stings people, pets and livestock, and causes many social and…
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Yellow crazy ant

Yellow crazy ant

A highly invasive ant whose dense supercolonies dominate landscapes ecologically, displacing other insects and preying on small vertebrates as well.
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Asian honeybee

Asian honeybee

An Asian honeybee established around Cairns that will compete with native pollinating insects and birds if it spreads widely.
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Common eastern bumblebee

Common eastern bumblebee

A North American bee that competes with native bees and birds for nectar, and benefits weeds by pollinating their flowers.
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Giant honeybee

Giant honeybee

A large Asian honeybee the giant honeybee will compete with native pollinating insects and birds.
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Large earth bumblebee

Large earth bumblebee

A European bee, found in Tasmania but not on mainland Australia, it competes with native bees and birds for nectar,…
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Red dwarf honey bee

Red dwarf honey bee

A small Asian honeybee, often intercepted at Australia’s ports, that will compete with native pollinating insects and birds.
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Western yellowjacket

Western yellowjacket

This North American wasp is a serious predator of native insects.
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Harlequin ladybird

Harlequin ladybird

The harlequin ladybird is a predatory Asian ladybird that has caused dramatic declines of various native ladybirds in Europe and…
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Gypsy moth

Gypsy moth

The Gypsy moth is a Northern Hemisphere moth whose caterpillars defoliate trees in forests and farmland, causing devastation overseas.
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Brown marmorated stink bug

Brown marmorated stink bug

The brown marmorated stink bug is a dreaded crop-ravaging pest from Asia that may also pose a threat to native…
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Asian cycad scale

Asian cycad scale

A sap-sucking bug from Thailand that has driven cycads close to extinction on Guam and Taiwan.
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Hear from us when it matters

Your support to protect critically endangered and vulnerable species from extinction is vital. Together, we can ensure governments prioritise action on invasive species and protect our wildlife and iconic places.

The Invasive Species Council was formed in 2002 to seek stronger laws, policies and programs to protect nature from harmful pests, weeds and diseases.

The Invasive Species Council acknowledges the Traditional Custodians throughout Australia and their connections to land and sea. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.

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Dear Project Team,

[YOUR PERSONALISED MESSAGE WILL APPEAR HERE.] 

I support the amendment to the Kosciuszko National Park Wild Horse Heritage Management Plan to allow our incredible National Parks staff to use aerial shooting as one method to rapidly reduce feral horse numbers. I want to see feral horse numbers urgently reduced in order to save the national park and our native wildlife that live there.

The current approach is not solving the problem. Feral horse numbers have rapidly increased in Kosciuszko National Park to around 18,000, a 30% jump in just the past 2 years. With the population so high, thousands of feral horses need to be removed annually to reduce numbers and stop our National Park becoming a horse paddock. Aerial shooting, undertaken humanely and safely by professionals using standard protocols, is the only way this can happen.

The government’s own management plan for feral horses states that ‘if undertaken in accordance with best practice, aerial shooting can have the lowest negative animal welfare impacts of all lethal control methods’.

This humane and effective practice is already used across Australia to manage hundreds of thousands of feral animals like horses, deer, pigs, and goats.

Trapping and rehoming of feral horses has been used in Kosciuszko National Park for well over a decade but has consistently failed to reduce the population, has delayed meaningful action and is expensive. There are too many feral horses in the Alps and not enough demand for rehoming for it to be relied upon for the reduction of the population.

Fertility control as a management tool is only effective for a small, geographically isolated, and accessible population of feral horses where the management outcome sought is to maintain the population at its current size. It is not a viable option to reduce the large and growing feral horse population in the vast and rugged terrain of Kosciuszko National Park.

Feral horses are trashing and trampling our sensitive alpine ecosystems and streams, causing the decline and extinction of native animals. The federal government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee has stated that feral horses ‘may be the crucial factor that causes final extinction’ for 12 alpine species.

I recognise the sad reality that urgent and humane measures are necessary to urgently remove the horses or they will destroy the Snowies and the native wildlife that call the mountains home. I support a healthy national park where native species like the Corroboree Frog and Mountain Pygmy Possum can thrive.

Kind regards,
[Your name]
[Your email address]
[Your postcode]


Dear Project Team,

[YOUR PERSONALISED MESSAGE WILL APPEAR HERE.] 

I support the amendment to the Kosciuszko National Park Wild Horse Heritage Management Plan to allow our incredible National Parks staff to use aerial shooting as one method to rapidly reduce feral horse numbers. I want to see feral horse numbers urgently reduced in order to save the national park and our native wildlife that live there.

The current approach is not solving the problem. Feral horse numbers have rapidly increased in Kosciuszko National Park to around 18,000, a 30% jump in just the past 2 years. With the population so high, thousands of feral horses need to be removed annually to reduce numbers and stop our National Park becoming a horse paddock. Aerial shooting, undertaken humanely and safely by professionals using standard protocols, is the only way this can happen.

The government’s own management plan for feral horses states that ‘if undertaken in accordance with best practice, aerial shooting can have the lowest negative animal welfare impacts of all lethal control methods’.

This humane and effective practice is already used across Australia to manage hundreds of thousands of feral animals like horses, deer, pigs, and goats.

Trapping and rehoming of feral horses has been used in Kosciuszko National Park for well over a decade but has consistently failed to reduce the population, has delayed meaningful action and is expensive. There are too many feral horses in the Alps and not enough demand for rehoming for it to be relied upon for the reduction of the population.

Fertility control as a management tool is only effective for a small, geographically isolated, and accessible population of feral horses where the management outcome sought is to maintain the population at its current size. It is not a viable option to reduce the large and growing feral horse population in the vast and rugged terrain of Kosciuszko National Park.

Feral horses are trashing and trampling our sensitive alpine ecosystems and streams, causing the decline and extinction of native animals. The federal government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee has stated that feral horses ‘may be the crucial factor that causes final extinction’ for 12 alpine species.

I recognise the sad reality that urgent and humane measures are necessary to urgently remove the horses or they will destroy the Snowies and the native wildlife that call the mountains home. I support a healthy national park where native species like the Corroboree Frog and Mountain Pygmy Possum can thrive.

Kind regards,
[Your name]
[Your email address]
[Your postcode]