ABC Insect of the Year 2024

 The ABC is on a huge quest to find Australia’s smallest hero. Six insect experts, including our own AB Bishop, horticultural editor of Gardening Australia magazine, have selected the finalists for ABC Insect of the Year! The finalists are the golden stag beetle (Lamprima aurata), blue-banded bee (Amegilla spp.), Eltham copper butterfly (Paralucia pyrodiscus lucida), Bogong moth (Agrotis infusa), common hoverfly (Melangyna viridiceps) and Lord Howe Island stick insect (Dryococelus australis). Each has a vital role in pollination or pest control, and as a food source for other animals. 

The contest is a way “to encourage us to think and talk more about insects, and to find ways to make our planet more sustainable for its many variable life forms”, says Dr Ken Walker, senior entomologist at Museums Victoria. 

Your ABC Insect of the Year Finalists

The blue-banded bee (Amegilla cingulata)
“Blue-banded bees are head-banger rockers! They are crucial in buzz pollination of flowers like native kangaroo apples, and crop species such as tomatoes, which require vigorous impacts to shake out the pollen. Blue-banded bees really are the rock stars of the insect world.” – Dr Anna Currucan.

Bogong moth (Agrotis infusa)
“The Bogong moth makes the list because it has an incredible migration – nearly 1000km – and it’s also an important food source for the critically endangered mountain pygmy possum.” – AB Bishop

Common hoverfly (Melangyna viridiceps)
“Hoverflies are masters of disguise, mimicking bees and wasps, and they are tireless workers and gentle pollinators. They can also hover in one spot, which is cool on its own. But that’s not all! Their larvae are voracious predators of aphids, each one typically eats 300 of these pests over their life cycle.” – Peter Rowland

Golden stag beetle (Lamprima aurata)
“They’re often mistaken for Christmas beetles due to their amazing colours. The young larvae feed on rotting logs which is essential part of forest ecology, and the adults are nectar-loving therefore they are great pollinators.” – Tanya Loos

Lord Howe Island stick insect (Dryococelus australis)
“The Lord Howe Island Stick insect is a remarkable story of survival and a comeback from the dead. It was once abundant on Lord Howe Island, the only place it is known to occur and is large (hand-sized) and flightless. By 1923, the Lord Howe Island Stick Insect was declared to be extinct but in 2003 it was re-discovered and is now subject to a breeding program at Museums Victoria.” – Dr Ken Walker

Eltham copper butterfly (Paralucia pyrodiscus lucida)
“Once thought to be extinct, the Eltham copper butterfly was re-discovered in (you guessed it!) Eltham! There are a handful of locations in Victoria where it can still be found. It lives in a three-way relationship with a plant called Sweet Bursaria AND Notoncus ants which usher its caterpillars up and down the plants for feeding at night, and naps in the roots and stems during the day.” – Dr Ann Jones