Project background
The Australian sheep blowfly (Lucilia cuprina) is an invasive species and a major pest of the wool industry. It is the main cause of flystrike - a painful skin disease caused by blowfly larvae. Flystrike costs the Australian wool industry up to $320 million each year in treatment and stock losses.
This pilot project aims to eradicate sheep blowfly from Kangaroo Island using the sterile insect technique (SIT). The goal is to reduce flystrike cases and lower the cost of managing the pest.
Objectives
- Design and construct a containerised blowfly rearing facility capable of producing 50 million flies per week
- Successfully eradicate sheep blowfly from Kangaroo Island
- Implement biosecurity protocol with industry to prevent reintroduction of sheep blowfly on Kangaroo Island
Research approach
This project uses the sterile insect technique (SIT) to eradicate sheep blowfly. SIT works by releasing large numbers of sterile insects into a target area to suppress reproduction and reduce the wild population over time.
A containerised facility has been designed, built, and installed on Kangaroo Island. It can mass-rear and sterilise up to 50 million blowflies each week.
Before installation, researchers optimised the mass-rearing process by testing:
- adult fly and larval diets
- egg collection methods
- ideal environmental conditions
- quality control protocols.
Each spring, millions of sterile blowfly pupae are released from a plane across Kangaroo Island every week. A network of new traps monitors both the released sterile flies and the wild population.
Flystrike incidence and the impact of sterile fly releases are tracked in partnership with local sheep producers.
Expected outcomes
This project is a proof of concept for using the sterile insect technique (SIT) to control sheep blowfly and reduce flystrike. If successful, the containerised rearing facility could be moved to sheep-dense areas on mainland Australia to support local blowfly eradication. This would mark a major step forward in flystrike management by reducing the need for chemical treatments, improving animal welfare, and helping to sustain and grow the wool industry.
So far, the project has:
- designed and built a facility for mass rearing and sterilising sheep blowfly
- developed protocols for large-scale rearing
- released millions of sterile flies across Kangaroo Island
- trialled and refined monitoring techniques
- partnered with local producers to run trials on sheep properties and track flystrike cases.
Collaborators
- University of Adelaide
- Applied Biosciences Group, Macquarie University
- Narelle’s Lab, International Atomic Energy Agency
