In a passion spanning 50 years, 85 year old Australasian midge 'guru' Alan Dyce has discovered and grouped nearly 250 species of midge; a feat whose scope becomes more obvious when you understand that midges—popularly called sandflies—are about the size of a pinhole.

The CSIRO Emeritus Fellow spent the first 20 years of his retirement recording information to produce a wing-picture atlas of Australasian midges. Published in 2007, the atlas is the first comprehensive look at midges in Australasia.

Working alongside Alan for the past eight years, AQIS entomologist Glenn Bellis helped assemble the information for the publication and built up his own midge credentials, knowing that Alan wanted to slow down, but also wanted to ensure his work would be carried forward.

'Alan’s intention was to describe all the species groups, but in the end it became obvious that time was beating him,' says Glenn.

So that more species could be catalogued, in 2008 AQIS facilitated Glenn's secondment to a biodiversity project funded by the Australian Biological Resources Study within the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts.

'The secondment lasted for four months,' Glenn says. 'During that time four manuscripts were prepared for publication including illustrations and identification keys.

'I was also able to put together a key to species found in the Northern Territory and some threatening exotic species.' AQIS contributes information to the National Arbovirus Monitoring Program (NAMP), which monitors northern Australian regions for exotic midges, the diseases they transmit, and any southerly expansion of local species' distribution.

The key will help distinguish local from exotic and is the first key to species in the world that doesn't rely on mounting specimens on slides but uses characteristics visible under a stereo microscope, at relatively low magnification (up to 100 x).

Understanding midges is important to the health of Australia's sheep and cattle, as some species spread the virus that causes 'bluetongue'. Infection of Australia's herds with this virus would close many of our export markets to Australian animals.

Glenn has accepted the baton from Alan Dyce and has taken over as the reference entomologist for NAMP. 'Alan's shoes are big ones to fill in the midge world,' Glenn says, 'but he's passed on a lot of knowledge to me over the years and it's good to know he's around if I need to confirm a tricky ID.'