From 2016 to 2019, the PPWCMA conducts on-farm trials investigating ways that farmers can improve their farm biodiversity in combination with adopting sustainable land management principles by using native insectaries.

The concept of planting flowering native vegetation to provide nectar and habitat for beneficial insects is a simple farm practice that can be achieved with relatively low cost. The potential economic gain easily counteracts the short-term outlay with long term financial advantages with reduced labour and pesticide inputs.

With re-vegetation a part of good farm practice, incorporating native plants that provide excellent habitat for beneficial insects into re-vegetation projects will vastly improve conservation biological control as a crucial mechanism for good integrated pest management.

Developing and introducing methods, such as native vegetation insectariums, allow growers to better understand the diversity of beneficial insects on their farm, the services these insects provide, the timing of their abundance or critical life stages for bio-control alongside softer pesticide options, will mean growers can vastly improve their IPM strategies and environmental assurance.

Trial sites

A lot of research on this topic has been done in the past by Retallack Viticulture in South Australia, but other than a single vineyard in the Pyrenese, there didn’t seem to be much known about the practice in Victoria.

The PPWCMA used the South Australian research to design a simple on-farm trial with Fielderberry Farm in Cockatoo, with the aim that it could be easily replicated by growers in the Port Phillip and Western Port region.

Fielderberry Farm began preparing areas for planting by using a light herbicide spray, and a team planted the areas with native tubestock in August 2016. Indigenous plants that complied with the documented Ecological Vegetation Class were used, alongside some non-local Indigenous plants, to be used as bush foods.

A main insectary was planted along a fence line between two paddocks. This will become a multi-strata shelterbelt creating a corridor from the existing native vegetation on the property (63 acres) into the production area (containing Rubus sp and Blueberries). Smaller plantings were scattered across the production area in pre-existing empty garden beds and surrounding the ‘you-pick’ gazebo.

Monitoring results

To monitor insect diversity and abundance across the trial sites, sticky traps and pit fall traps were installed.

Within 10 weeks of planting, several native plants were already flowering and the new insectary had an abundance of hover flies.

Monitoring analysis undertaken by by Linda Thomson of Melbourne University through out that trials found that the native insectaries resulted in:

• The abundance of ladybirds increasing by a factor of five
• Predatory ground beetles doubling
• Predatory rove beetles doubled
• Four times as many brown lacewings
• Four times as many predatory bugs
• 5,500 beetles collected from 26 families
• Over 12,000 parasitoids collected
• An increase in predatory wasps, thrips and mites
• An increase in predatory flies.

Resources

Learn more the trials and the process used to establish farm insectary plantings without impeding on production in our fact sheet below.

A number of templates are referenced in the fact sheet. These can be download using the links below.

Previous project updates

• Insects aplenty at insectary trial farm walk
• Native vegetation insectariums cause a buzz among landholders

Learn more

To find out more contact Karen Thomas on 8781 7945, 0427 780 170 or karen.thomas@ppwcma.vic.gov.au.

This project is supported by the PPWCMA, through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.