Bush Blitz

Visit our website at: http://www.bushblitz.org.au.

Bush Blitz is Australia’s largest biodiversity survey program uncovering species new to science – a unique multimillion dollar partnership between the Australian Government, Earthwatch Australia and BHP.

21/07/2026

Mighty moths 💪🦋🌙

It’s moth week so here are five of our favourite moth facts!

🌸Powerful pollinators – moths drink nectar and help pollinate our native plants like orchids, snowgums and Boronia species.

🦋Famous cousins – most attention goes to butterflies, but did you know that butterflies are just daytime flying moths? Recent genetic studies have shown that butterflies are just moths with a flair for more colourful outfits to attract mates in the daylight.

🏠Waterproof scales – moth wings are covered in scales helping them camouflage into their surroundings. Like shingles on a roof, scales also help make moths waterproof by repelling water so they can fly in the rain.

👃 Smell you later – moths use pheromones secreted from their abdomens to identify members of the same species to help choose a date.

🔬Australia has more than 10,500 known species of moths. So far our scientists have uncovered 161 species of moths new to science on Bush Blitz adventures!

Check out these beautiful moths photographed by Heath Warwick on our Bush Blitz to Little Desert National Park in Victoria, Australia.

Parks Australia Earthwatch Australia

15/07/2026

There’s a lot to like about lichens! 💚

We’d lichen you to meet Dr Gintaras Kantvilas, a lichenologist from the Tasmanian Herbarium who’s researching Australia’s unique species lichen there’s no tomorrow.

Lichen or not, they are not a unique kingdom, but a mix of fungi and green algae living together in synergy.

On our recent Bush Blitz survey of Tasmania’s King Island, Gintaras was on a mission to find unnamed species. It was lichen looking for a needle in a haystack!

And just lichen that – he found a species new to science growing on Melaleuca paperbark in the lowland coastal swamps. He must have felt lichen a million bucks!

Gintaras was confident the specimens he found belonged to an unknown species, because he knows all 3000 native species lichen the back of his hand.

Gintaras brough the specimens back to the Tasmanian Herbarium since there’s no place lichen home. And lichen a kid in a candy store, he compared the fresh specimens to known species from the reference collection.

And lichen riding a bike, Gintaras got to work confirming that the new species had a unique opaque maroon-red to red-brown colour and elliptical, wall-like spores (called ascospores).

Gintaras named the species Arthothelium palustre, which in Latin refers to the swampy habitat where the species lives. We think the name sounds lichen a winner!

If you’d lichen to speak to the collection manager, visit the Tasmanian Herbarium or read the full paper!

Lichen subscribe for more native species content!

🖋️ Dr Bryan Lessard

Parks Australia Earthwatch Australia

01/07/2026

Did you know that Australia has 1,200 different moss species? That’s 10% of all moss species in the world. Moss can also break-up the wood and rocks that they grow on to help build new soils.

Earthwatch Australia

22/06/2026

Happy World Rainforest Day 🌱

Today we’re celebrating Australia's precious rainforests that are home to some of our most extraordinary biodiversity. Rainforests are the world’s life support, acting as the Earth’s lungs to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen and recycle nutrients that are relied on by so many animals, plants and fungi.

We’ve been lucky enough to bring our scientists to some of Australia’s most pristine rainforests across Australia to uncover species new to science.

Celebrate today by taking a walk and appreciate the little things buzzing, crawling or flying in your local rainforest (if you’re lucky to have one!) or visit your closest botanic gardens. Together we can protect and enjoy our rainforests well into the future!

Earthwatch Australia

03/06/2026

Did you know female spiderwasps can carry huntsman spiders 10-20 times their size? She stings, paralyses and lays an egg in the spider. The wasp larva then hatches and eats the spider from the inside out.

💪🐝+🕷️ = 🐛🕷️🍽️

📷bry_the_fly_guy Ngunnawal Country, Canberra ACT

29/05/2026

Most people find wasps scary, but here are seven reasons why we should love wasps!

💛🐝

7. They eat spiders so they can’t bite you 🕷️💀

Female spiderwasps sting, paralyse, rip the legs off and lay eggs inside spiders so their babies have something to eat.

6. Flower power 💪🌸

Adult wasps are helpful pollinators of veggies and native plants thanks to their craving for pollen.

5. Hidden beauties 🔎👄

Most of the 12,000 native Australian wasp species are drop dead gorgeous.

4. Masters of disguise 🕵️

To bee or not to bee? Some wasps mimic bees or ants to blend in or avoid predators.

3. Ancient wonders 🦴⌛

Wasps have been around since the time of the dinosaurs like this fossil sawfly that’s 11 million years old!

2. Mumma bears 🐛🍼
Female wasps care for their young like mudwasps and paperwasps that build nests, or sawflies that guard their brood.

1. Their sting could cure your next headache 💉🧠
Wasp venom has a unique effect on the central nervous system that could one day be used to treat Alzheimer’s.

Watch Dr Juanita Rodriguez () share her love of wasps as she searches for ‘sneaky’ spiderwasps on the Pilliga Bush Blitz in our latest YouTube video!

✍️

27/05/2026

Spider wasps are the friends you didn’t know you needed! 🐝💛

Are wasps really that scary? Can they help us in the garden? What if they could take the sting out of our next headache using their venom?

Meet Dr Juanita Rodriguez (), a CSIRO () entomologist who’s dedicated her career to all thing’s wasps, from naming species new to science to unlocking potential new medicines from their venom.

Take a walk on the wild side with Bry the Fly Guy () and Juanita as they search for ‘sneaky’ spider wasps on a Bush Blitz to the Pilliga (NSW, Australia).

You won’t believe what they uncover as they look for clues that help answer some of our waspiest questions!

🐛What do wasps eat?
🧑‍🍼Are wasps good parents?
🪽Do all wasps have wings?
💉Could we treat Alzheimer’s with the sting of a wasp?

How many wasp species do you there are? Turns out there’s a lot – Australia has more than 12,000 species buzzing across the continent!

Watch the full episode of our new Bush Blitz: Nature Uncovered series on our YouTube channel (youtube.com/) or read the full interview on our website (bushblitz.org.au) or the CSIRO Blog (www.csiro.au/en/news).

This episode was filmed on the lands of the Gamilaraay, Gamilaroi and Gomeroi peoples in the Pilliga in New South Wales, Australia.

20/05/2026

You won’t bee-lieve this! There are still 500 Australian native bee species hiding in nature!
🐝
Happy World Bee Day! Did you know that Australia has 1500 species of native bees that have been scientifically named?
🤯
Entomologists like Dr Juanita Rodriguez ( ) are still describing bee species new to science. A lot of attention goes to the European honeybee which was introduced into Australia to pollinate food crops BUT we need more people studying the unsung pollinators – our champion native bees and insects!
🌺
Join entomologist Dr Juanita Rodriguez and our very own Bry the Fly Guy () on a Bush Blitz to the Pilliga (NSW) as they look for native bees.
🔍
Juanita’s full wasp-loving episode will buzz onto our YouTube very soon!
📺
This episode was filmed on the lands of the Gamilaraay, Gamilaroi and Gomeroi peoples in the Pilliga in New South Wales, Australia.

Additional 📸 courtesy of Bryan Lessard, Helen Cross and the CSIRO Australian Nation Insect Collection.

06/05/2026

We love a native cockroach! This native metallic cockroach (Megazosteria patula) proves that even roaches can be beautiful. It was found by our friends at Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory living it's best glam life on our recent Jawoyn Bush Blitz near Katherine, Northern Territory. 🪳😍

21/04/2026

We’re celebrating our 50th Bush Blitz on King Island!

We’re excited to share what we found during our recent Bush Blitz to King Island, Tasmania. Home to woodland forests, grasslands and wetlands, King Island is a remote island located at the western entrance to Bass Strait, halfway between Victoria and Tasmania.

12,000 years ago, King Island was once part of the land bridge between Tasmania and mainland Australia. Now it’s home to a mix of unique flora and fauna related to its Victoria and Tasmania counterparts – including species uncovered for the first time!

Our King Island Bush Blitz team recorded:

🤯44 species new to science

🦋1,301 species of animals, plants and fungi

🚨70 introduced pest species

🦞First records of the Southern Hairy Red Snail, Gristle Fern and Common Yabby.

A huge thank you to our friends for making the King Island Bush Blitz a success!

Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery , Tasmanian Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria , University of New South Wales , King Island High School and King Island Field Naturalists Club.

Read the full report on the Bush Blitz website at bushblitz.org.au

Address

Canberra, ACT

Website

http://bushblitz.org.au/contact-us/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Bush Blitz posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Want your organization to be the top-listed Government Service in Canberra?