Tiny pests, big impact
NT scientists share insights at AES conference. Entomologists from the Northern Territory Department of Agriculture and Fisheries NT (NT DAF), Senior Entomologist Dr Thilini Ekanayake and Cropping Entomologist Simon Ong, showcased their research at the 56th Australian Entomological Society (AES) conference, held from 1 to 4 December 2025 at the Australian National University, Canberra.
The conference also served as the 5th Combined Australian and New Zealand Entomological Societies conference, continuing a long-standing tradition of trans-Tasman collaboration that began in 1996 with presenters from the Entomological Society of New Zealand attending.
The AES conference remains Australia’s premier gathering for insect researchers, bringing together specialists from academia, government and industry.
The 2025 conference program featured the latest advances in entomology, interactive poster sessions, and opportunities for researchers to collaborate on emerging challenges in pest management, biodiversity, and crop protection.
This year’s theme, Securing our future together, highlighted the essential role invertebrates play in ecological systems, agriculture, and everyday life.
NT DAF Entomologist Simon Ong presented his poster, Eudelodes bicolor (Faust) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), an emerging weevil pest of cultivated cotton in northern Australia during the poster session.
The bicoloured weevil (Eudelodes bicolor) has rapidly emerged as a significant pest of the NT cotton industry and poses a significant threat to other tropical and subtropical cotton growing regions of Australia. The conference was a valuable opportunity to inform other entomologists working in the cropping industry, as well as to exchange advice on management of this pest.
Simon’s research forms part of the NT DAF-led project Addressing the fundamentals of cropping-systems that deliver sustainable growth of agriculture sector in the Northern Territory. The project is delivered under the Cotton-Grain-Cattle program of research, funded by Cooperative Research Centre for developing northern Australia.
NT DAF Senior Entomologist Dr Thilini Ekanayake presented her study titled Are Bactrocera jarvisi mango reared populations different to populations from the native host Planchonia careya?
Thilini’s research challenged the hypothesis that populations of Jarvis’s fruit fly - a mango pest - initially increase in sites where cocky apples (Planchonia careya) are present before moving into mango plantations.
Instead, Thilini found that fruit fly populations increased simultaneously across mango orchards and cocky apple sites in both the NT and Queensland, refuting the above hypothesis.
The study forms part of the Phenology, demography and distribution of Australia’s fruit flies project, funded under the Strengthening Australia’s Fruit Fly System Research Program. Funding for the program was provided by the Australian Government, with contributions matched from state and territory governments.
The conference welcomed around 290 participants representing academia, government agencies, research organisations and industry.
Keynote addresses and symposia covered a wide range of themes, including:
- invasive species and biosecurity
- insect–plant interactions
- arthropod-driven ecosystem services
- molecular entomology.
The conference was an opportunity to connect with national and international colleagues, exchange research insights and strengthen collaborations that will support ongoing research and biosecurity work in the Northern Territory.
For more information on these presentations, contact DAF entomologists on 08 8999 2258 or email insectinfo@nt.gov.au.
