Identifying Insects - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

This workshop will introduce you to the different groups or Orders of

insects we commonly find around our homes or gardens.  We explore the

appearance, behaviour, reproduction, lifecycles and ecology of these

different insect groups and sort out the good guys from the not so good.

Participants will use a specially designed dichotomous key to then classify

provided insect specimens into these various Orders, giving them the

opportunity to work with some unique Australian insects. Combined with cases

of preserved insects and arachnids from around the world and live local

insects to see up close, this is a fun, hands-on workshop to help you

identify insects in your homes and gardens.

Michelle completed a Bachelor of Science majoring in Entomology at the University

of Queensland with first class Honours.

She always wanted to share her love of insects with people, especially

children. In January 2003, together with good friends Anthony & Katie

Hiller (Mount Glorious Biological Centre), we developed a range of hands-on

insect workshops and thus founded Bugs Ed.

In my career so far, I have had the opportunity to work with some amazing

people, but none more so than the amazing Sir David Attenborough. In

December 2009, I got to work side by side with the wildlife guru during his

trip down under to film his latest series. We spent the day at Australia

Zoo, wrangling rhinoceros beetles alongside D.J., a 2 tonne African

Rhinoceros. Best. Day. Ever.

In addition to running Bugs Ed. I recently published my first book Miniature

Lives - identifying insects in your home and garden, a comprehensive,

easy-to-read identification guide to Australian insects. Published by CSIRO

Publishing, it has received lots of praise, including a nomination for the

prestigious Royal Zoological Society of NSW Whitley Awards.

I do some crazy field work as an entomological consultant too, which

involves many hours spent up trees, in the bush and traipsing through cow

paddocks!

Michelle will have her fantastic identification book available for sale on the day.