An entomology expo will be buzzing into Woodend in July as the first of its kind.
Live specimens, workshops, demonstrations, artwork and insect displays from across the state will fill Buffalo Stadium for the three-day event.
Under the microscope will be the Central Victorian Regional Insect Collection – now the last collection representing bugs of central Victoria in existence.
The collection’s managing director entomologist, Bert Candusio, said the CVRIC held rare and fascinating species he was excited to share.
“We have a rare specimen of one of the largest flies in the world measuring 2 ½ inches – the Phellus Olgae – which was collected at Lockwood,” he said.
“We have also catalogued a particular species of camponodus that is unknown.”
Last year, La Trobe University asked Mr Candusio to step in and salvage its Bendigo campus insect collection due to a redevelopment. It comprises some 20,000 student specimens gathered from as early as the 1970s.
“It forms great baseline data and we’re excited about all the spin-off research that can now happen as a result of having this collection,” Mr Candusio said.
“Already, we know that we are now seeing species here that are typically from further north.”
For now, the collection is housed in Woodend while a team works on cataloguing, further development and creating a digital database. The next step is to find its permanent home so it can be enjoyed by the public and they have their sights set on Woodend.
Mr Candusio was the founding director of the former Insectarium of Victoria, which was also housed in the town.
When developers purchased the insectarium’s home, the collection was sold on to a group with the promise of a purpose-built site.
Mr Cardusio said the plans never developed and he discovered 18 years later that the collection had been destroyed through “sheer neglect”.
“It really puts more emphasis on the CVRIC’s importance,” Mr Candusio said.
The entomology expo is a major fundraiser for the group maintaining the collection. It will assist in purchasing equipment for proper storage, preservation and database development.
Mr Candusio said he hoped the event would get more people interested in some our smallest creatures.
“There is what I like to call a ‘Cute and Cuddly Effect’ whereby people want to save the koalas or the panda bears, because they are cute and cuddly and it is what they are familiar with. What a lot of people don’t realise is that in order to do that you must start with invertebrates and insects,” he said.
The entomology expo will be held at Woodend’s Buffalo Stadium from July 1-3, opening 10am to 5pm.
Further details will be revealed closer to the event.
