Soldier Beetles

If your garden has become overrun by a plague of beetles with a yellow or orange stripe behind their head, don’t be alarmed. While they are easy to confuse with wasps, the soldier beetle is a harmless insect often seen in plague proportions this time of year. Despite their numbers, they are not classified as a pest, they don’t bite or sting and pose no risk to humans. There are no known predators and no known control but don't worry, once...

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Weed Blitz month

Environmental weeds continue to be a blight on the Yarra Ranges landscape, particularly in the hills. Damp, wet forest environments mixed with a large urban population have helped weeds flourish across fence lines into native forest. Weeds compete with native plants for light, space, water and nutrients and often have faster life cycles and generate more seeds than native plants giving them the competitive edge. Weeds can remove vital food sources...

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