Six-legged miners strike gold

Termites and ants are stockpiling gold in their mounds, new CSIRO research has found. Australia’s smallest and most numerous mining prospectors can show us where new gold deposits are. Insects can carry gold from underground up into their mounds. Dr Aaron Stewart and his CSIRO colleagues have shown that they also accumulate metals in their […]

Fighting termites – with a natural chemical from an Aussie tree

David Leach, Southern Cross University

A wood extract has been registered as the first natural termiticide in Australia by the Australian Pesticide and Veterinary Medicines Administration.

David Leach and his colleagues from Southern Cross University and the University of Western Sydney identified the active extract in Eremophila mitchellii also known as budda, false sandalwood.

The achievement illustrates the potential to learn new tricks from Australia’s native plants and animals.

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