Currently, our main defence against crop pests is synthetic pesticides- but using them comes at a cost. By contrast, biological controls use pests' natural enemies, predators and parasitoids, to defeat them without collateral damage to beneficial insects or the environment.

Hundreds of thousands of sterile Queensland fruit flies were dropped from planes over the Adelaide region on 2 March 2018, launching an ambitious national plan to reduce the numbers of this costly, endemic crop pest.

In Bugs on the Menu, Canadian filmmaker Ian Toews explores the health and environmental benefits of adding more insect protein to 21st-century diets.

Bugs that survive insecticides grow stronger. And discovering new, effective toxins through genetics is time-consuming – finding the nexus between a particular bug and its poison can take decades. Now, scientists at Massachusetts’ Harvard University are using advanced PACE technology speed up the search for new Bt toxins to kill insecticide-resistant super-bugs.

New DNA tests for pesticide-resistant critters developed by researchers at New South Wales’ Yanco Agricultural Institute could revolutionise the way we protect valuable stored grain from insect pests.

New Zealand’s fruit and vegie growers have a new best friend. And he has an awesome nose.