Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-dfsvx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-27T16:54:51.733Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 14 - Protecting the small majority: insect conservation in Australia and New Zealand

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 November 2014

By
Gregory I. Holwell  and
Nigel R. Andrew
Edited by
Adam Stow ,
Norman Maclean  and
Gregory I. Holwell
Gregory I. Holwell
Affiliation:
University of Auckland
Nigel R. Andrew
Affiliation:
University of New England, Armidale, Australia
Adam Stow
Affiliation:
Macquarie University, Sydney
Norman Maclean
Affiliation:
University of Southampton
Gregory I. Holwell
Affiliation:
University of Auckland
Get access

Summary

Summary

Insects represent the largest component of Australasia’s animal diversity. While the uniqueness and conservation needs of Australia and New Zealand’s vertebrates are generally understood, the importance of our insects and the threats they face are less appreciated. Some groups, including locally endemic butterflies and flightless giants, such as giant weta, are important for raising public awareness of insect conservation. However, our understanding of how broad processes influence insect populations and communities is in its infancy. Part of the issue is due to a complete lack of knowledge of the biology of the vast majority of insect species, as most insects in Australasia remain undescribed. In this chapter we discuss insect biodiversity in Australia and New Zealand and discuss both insect species and diversity conservation, contrasting patterns in Australia and New Zealand. We then discuss some of the major threats facing insect species and diversity, specifically focussing on the impacts of habitat loss and fragmentation, predation by invasive rodents and climate change. Lastly, we discuss interactions between insects and humans including the provision of ecosystem services by insects in an agricultural context, human consumption of insects (entomophagy) and concerns surrounding the lack of taxonomic expertise for insects in Australasia.

Insect biodiversity in Australia and New Zealand

The uniqueness of the Australian fauna has been known for centuries, and since the first European explorers returned from voyages to the Antipodes, naturalists have remarked on the diversity of Australasian life, and its peculiarity. While most people are familiar with the stories of European incredulity when faced with a stuffed platypus or kiwi, many may not appreciate that the insect fauna of Australia and New Zealand is equally unique, and far more diverse. The first insect formally identified in Australia was the charismatic Botany Bay weevil (Chrysolopus spectabilis) by Joseph Banks who accompanied James Cook in 1770, but since then over 60 000 species have been described from Australia and New Zealand. Estimates for the species-richness of Australia’s terrestrial insects range between 84 000 species (CSIRO, 1991) and 205 000 (Yeates et al., 2003), of which 75% are yet to be described, and given a name. New Zealand has lower diversity owing to its smaller landmass and its more temperate latitudinal range, but still holds an estimated 20 000 species of insects with 10 000 still requiring description (Cranston, 2010).

Type
Chapter
Information
Austral Ark
The State of Wildlife in Australia and New Zealand
 , pp. 278 - 297
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2014

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Addo-Bediako, A., Chown, S. L., Gaston, K. J. (2001) Revisiting water loss in insects: a large scale view. Journal of Insect Physiology, 47, 1377–1388.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Andrew, N. R. (2013). Population dynamics of insects: impacts of a changing climate. In The Balance of Nature and Human Impact. Rohde, K. (Ed.), Cambridge University Press, pp. 311–324.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Andrew, N. R. & Terblanche, J. S. (2013). The response of insects to climate change. In: Climate of Change: Living in a Warmer World. Salinger, J. (Ed.), David Bateman Ltd Auckland, pp. 311–323.Google Scholar
Andrew, N. R., Hill, S. J., Binns, M. et al. (2013) Assessing insect responses to climate change: What are we testing for? Where should we be heading?PeerJ, 1, e11.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Austin, A. D., Yeates, D. K., Cassis, G. et al. (2004). Insects ‘down under’–diversity, endemism and evolution of the Australian insect fauna: examples from select orders. Australian Journal of Entomology, 43(3), 216–234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boulidam, S. (2010). Edible insects in a Lao market economy. In: Forest Insects as Food: Humans Bite Back, Proceedings of a workshop on Asia-Pacific resources and their potential for development, Bangkok, Thailand, FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Durst, P. B., Johnson, D. V., Leslie, R. L. & Shono, K. (Eds.), pp. 131–140.Google Scholar
Britton, D. R. & New, T. R. (1995). Rare Lepidoptera at Mount Piper, Victoria – the role of a threatened butterfly community in advancing understanding of insect conservation. Journal of the Lepidopterists’ Society, 49, 97–113.Google Scholar
Cheesman, O. D. & Key, R. S. (2007). The extinction of experience: a threat to insect conservation? In Insect Conservation Biology: Proceeding of the Royal Entomological Society’s 23nd Symposium (No. 232, p. 322). CABI.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clusella-Trullas, S., Blackburn, T. M. & Chown, S. L. (2011) Climatic predictors of temperature performance curve parameters in ectotherms imply complex responses to climate change. The American Naturalist, 177, 738–751.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cranston, P. S. (2009). Biodiversity of Australasian insects. In Insect Biodiversity: Science and Society, Foottit, R. G. & Adler, P. H. (Eds.). John Wiley & Sons, pp. 83–105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cranston, P. S. (2010). Insect biodiversity and conservation in Australasia. Annual Review of Entomology, 55, 55–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CSIRO (1991). Insects of Australia.
CSIRO (2007). Climate Change in Australia: Observed Changes and Projections. Available at: .
CSIRO-ABM (2012). State of the Climate 2012. CSIRO and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Canberra. Available at .Google Scholar
Cunningham, S. A., Fitzgibbon, F. & Heard, T. A. (2002). The future of pollinators for Australian agriculture. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research, 53, 893–900.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cunningham, S. A., Attwood, S. J., Bawa, K. S. et al. (2013). To close the yield-gap while saving biodiversity will require multiple locally relevant strategies. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 173, 20–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davies, K. F. & Margules, C. R. (2000). The beetles at Wog Wog: a contribution of Coleoptera systematics to an ecological field experiment. Invertebrate Systematics, 14(6), 953–956.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Defoliart, G. R. (2005). Overview of role of edible insects in preserving biodiversity. In Ecological Implications of Minilivestock: Potential of Insects, Rodents, Frogs and Snails. Paoletti, M. G. (Ed.). Science Publishers, Inc., Enfield, NH, pp. 123–139.Google Scholar
Deutsch, C. A., Tewksbury, J. J., Huey, R. B. et al. (2008). Impacts of climate warming on terrestrial ectotherms across latitude. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 105, 6668–6672.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dunlop, M. et al. (2012). The Implications of Climate Change for Biodiversity Conservation and the National Reserve System: Final Synthesis. A report prepared for the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, and the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency. CSIRO Climate Adaptation Flagship, Canberra.
Garibaldi, L. A., Steffan-Dewenter, I., Winfree, R. et al. (2013). Wild pollinators enhance fruit set of crops regardless of honey bee abundance. Science, 339, 1608–1611.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gibb, H. & Cunningham, S. A. (2010) Revegetation of farmland restores function and composition of epigaeic beetle assemblages?Biological Conservation, 143, 677–687.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gibbs, G. W. (2009). The end of an 80-million year experiment: a review of evidence describing the impact of introduced rodents on New Zealand’s ‘mammal-free’ invertebrate fauna. Biological Invasions, 11, 1587–1593.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goulson, D. (2013). An overview of the environmental risks posed by neonicotinoid insecticides?Journal of Applied Ecology, 50, 977–987.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henry, M., Béguin, M., Requier, F. et al. (2012) A common pesticide decreases foraging success and survival in honey bees. Science, 336, 348–350.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hogendoorn, K., Coventry, S. & Keller, M. (2007). Foraging behaviour of a blue banded bee, Amegilla chlorocyanea in greenhouses: implications for use as tomato pollinators. Apidologie, 38, 86–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Honan, P. (2008). Notes on the biology, captive management and conservation status of the Lord Howe Island Stick Insect (Dryococelus australis)(Phasmatodea). In Insect Conservation and Islands. Springer Netherlands, pp. 205–219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jeschke, P. & Nauen, R. (2008). Neonicotinoids – from zero to hero in insecticide chemistry. Pest Management Science, 64, 1084–1098.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kearney, M., Shine, R. & Porter, W. P. (2009). The potential for behavioral thermoregulation to buffer “cold-blooded” animals against climate warming. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106, 3835–3840.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Khusro, M., Andrew, N. R. & Nicholas, A. (2012). Insects as poultry feed: a scoping study for poultry production systems in Australia. World’s Poultry Science Journal, 68, 435–446.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kimura-Kuroda, J., Komuta, Y., Kuroda, Y., Hayashi, M. & Kawano, H. (2012). Nicotine-like effects of the neonicotinoid insecticides Acetamiprid and Imidacloprid on cerebellar neurons from neonatal rats. PLoS ONE, 7, e32432.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lentini, P. E., Martin, T. G., Gibbons, P., Fischer, J. & Cunningham, S. A. (2012). Supporting wild pollinators in a temperate agricultural landscape: Maintaining mosaics of natural features and production. Biological Conservation, 149, 84–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Losey, J. E. & Vaughan, M. (2006) The economic value of ecological services provided by insects. BioScience, 56, 311–323.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Macfadyen, S., Cunningham, S. A., Costamagna, A. C. & Schellhorn, N. A. (2012). Managing ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation in agricultural landscapes: are the solutions the same?Journal of Applied Ecology, 49, 690–694.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Major, R. E., Smith, D., Cassis, G., Gray, M. & Colgan, D. J. (1999). Are roadside strips important reservoirs of invertebrate diversity? A comparison of the ant and beetle faunas of roadside strips and large remnant woodlands. Australian Journal of Zoology, 47(6), 611–624.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Major, R. E., Christie, F. J., Gowing, G., Cassis, G. & Reid, C. A. (2003). The effect of habitat configuration on arboreal insect in fragmented woodlands of south-eastern Australian. Biological Conservation, 133(1), 35–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Major, R. E., Gowing, G., Christie, F. J., Gray, M. & Colgan, D.(2006). Variation in wolf spider (Araneae: Lycosidae) distribution and abundance in response to the size and shape of woodland fragment. Biology Conservation, 132(1), 98–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moir, M. L. & Leng, M. C. (2013). Developing Management Strategies to Combat Increased Coextinction Rates of Plant-dwelling Insects Through Global Climate Change. National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility, Gold Coast, p. 111.Google Scholar
Moir, M. L., Vesk, P. A., Brennan, K. E. et al. (2011). Identifying and managing threatened invertebrates through assessment of coexinction risk. Conservation Biology, 25(4), 787–796.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
New, T. R. (1990). Conservation of butterflies in Australia. Journal of Research of the Lepidoptera, 29, 237–255.Google Scholar
New, T. R. (2009). Insect Species Conservation. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
New, T. R. (2010). Butterfly conservation in Australia: the importance of community participation?Journal of Insect Conservation, 14, 305–311.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nichols, E., Spector, S., Louzada, J., et al. (2008). Ecological functions and ecosystem services provided by Scarabaeinae dung beetles. Biological Conservation, 141, 1461–1474.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Overgaard, J., Kristensen, T. N., Mitchell, K. A. & Hoffmann, A. A. (2011). Thermal tolerance in widespread and tropical Drosophila species: does phenotypic plasticity increase with latitude. The American Naturalist, 178, S80–96.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Powell, F. A., Hochuli, D. F. & Cassis, G. (2011). A new host and additional localities for the rare psyllid Acizzia keithi Taylor and Moir (Hemiptera: Psyllidae). Australian Journal of Entomology, 50, 441–444.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Priddel, D., Carlile, N., Humphrey, M., Fellenberg, S. & Hiscox, D. (2003). Rediscovery of the ‘extinct’Lord Howe Island stick-insect (Dryococelus australis (Montrouzier))(Phasmatodea) and recommendations for its conservation. Biodiversity & Conservation, 12, 1391–1403.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ridsdill-Smith, T. J., Hall, G. P. & Craig, G. F. (1982). Effect of population density on reproduction and dung dispersal by the dung beetle Onthophagus binodis in the laboratory. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata, 32, 80–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Samways, M. J. (1993). Insects in biodiversity conservation: some perspectives and directives. Biodiversity & Conservation, 2(3), 258–282.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Samways, M. J. (2005). Insect Diversity Conservation. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sands, D. (2008). Conserving the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly over two decades: where to next?Ecological Management & Restoration, 9, 4–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sands, D. P. A. & New, T. R. (2002). The Action Plan for Australian Butterflies. Canberra: Environment Australia.Google Scholar
Simmons, L. W. & Ridsdill-Smith, T. J. (2011). Reproductive competition and its impact on the evolution and ecology of dung beetles. In Ecology and Evolution of Dung Beetles. Simmons, L. W. & Ridsdill-Smith, T. J. (Eds.). Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 1–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clair, J. J. (2011). The impacts of invasive rodents on island invertebrates. Biological Conservation, 144(1), 68–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stillman, J. H. (2003). Acclimation capacity underlies susceptibility to climate change. Science 301, 65.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stokstad, E. (2013). Pesticides under fire for risks to pollinators. Science, 340, 674–676.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Taylor, R. W. (1983). Descriptive taxonomy: past, present, and future. Australian Systematic Entomology: A Bicentenary Berspective, 93, 134.Google Scholar
Terblanche, J. S., Clusella-Trullas, S. & Chown, S. L. (2010). Phenotypic plasticity of gas exchange pattern and water loss in Scarabaeus spretus (Coleóptera: Scarabaeidae): deconstructing the basis for metabolic rate variation. Journal of Experimental Biology, 213, 2940–2949.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Towns, D. R., Wardle, D. A., Mulder, C. P. H., et al. (2009). Predation of seabirds by invasive rats: multiple indirect consequences for invertebrate communities. Oikos, 118, 420–430.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Huis, A., van Itterbaeeck, J., Klunder, H. et al. (2013). Edible Insects: Future Prospects for Food and Food Security. Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, Rome, p. 171.Google Scholar
Vesk, P. A., Nolan, R., Thomson, J. R., Dorrough, J. W. & Nally, R. M. (2008). Time lags in provision of habitat resources through revegetation. Biological Conservation, 141, 174–186.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watts, C. & Thornburrow, D. (2009). Where have all the weta gone? Results after two decades of transferring a threatened New Zealand giant weta, Deinacrida mahoenui. Journal of Insect Conservation, 13, 287–295.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watts, C., Stringer, I., Sherley, G., Gibbs, G., & Green, C. (2008). History of weta (Orthoptera: Anostostomatidae) translocation in New Zealand: lessons learned, islands as sanctuaries and the future. Journal of Insect Conservation, 12, 359–370.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watts, C. H., Armstrong, D. P., Innes, J. & Thornburrow, D. (2011). Dramatic increases in weta (Orthoptera) following mammal eradication on Maungatautari – evidence from pitfalls and tracking tunnels. New Zealand Journal of Ecology, 35(3), 261.Google Scholar
Whitehorn, P. R., O’Connor, S., Wackers, F. L. & Goulson, D. (2012). Neonicotinoid pesticide reduces bumble bee colony growth and queen production. Science, 336, 351–352.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
WMO (2011). Weather Extremes in a Changing Climate. World Meteorological Organization, Switzerland. Available at .Google Scholar
Yeates, D. K., Harvey, M. S. & Austin, A. D. (2003). New estimates for terrestrial arthropod species-richness in Australia. Records of the South Australian Museum Monograph Series, 7, 231–241.Google Scholar
Yen, A. (2009). Entomophagy and insect conservation: some thoughts for digestion. Journal of Insect Conservation, 13, 667–670.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yen, A. L. (2005). Insect and other invertebrate foods of the Australian aborigines. In Ecological Implications of Minilivestock: Potential of Insects, Rodents, Frogs and Snails. Paoletti, M. G. (Ed.). Science Publishers, Inc., Enfield, NH, pp. 367–387.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×