November - Perkins Memorial Lecture

2025 is a Biennial Perkins Memorial Lecture year! This year, our special Biennial Perkins Memorial Guest Lecturer will be Professor Lori Lach from James Cook University, Centre of Tropical Biosecurity. Lori has worked on the ecology of invasive ant species. Much of her research has investigated invasive social insects and how their interactions differ from native species, in particular, how they enter into mutualistic interactions with other insects or plants. Her talk is entitled "Insect Invasions: Lessons from social insects." Join us for what should be a very interesting seminar! Visitors are welcome to attend. Afternoon tea will be provided after the seminar.

If you plan to attend, please register for the event to help us with catering.

Who was F.A. Perkins, and why do we commemorate him?

Frederick Athol Perkins was one of the 14 founders of the Entomological Society of Queensland on 14 June 1923, and he gave the inaugural address on “The Queensland Fruit Fly Problem” at its first meeting.   He was also the first lecturer in entomology at the University of Queensland (1926), and first Head of the Department of Entomology (1952). Perkins was a stimulating teacher in class and field.  He set up the UQ Insect Collection, which is now housed at the Queensland Museum and consists of more than 1,000,000 specimens of insects and related arthropods from all Australian states and territories. He was active in the taxonomy of pest fruit flies and stoneflies, and worked on mosquito control during WW2.  Athol Perkins was a major influence on entomology in Queensland for half a century. The Biennial Perkins Memorial Lecture celebrates his memory.

F.A. Perkins 1897-1976