From Monday 16 to Sunday 22 November, Australians are invited to step outside and meet the neighbours they rarely notice: the beetles, spiders, snails, worms and moths living in backyards, school grounds and local parks. Bugs In My Backyard Week is run by Bug Hunt, Australia's national citizen science project from the Invasive Species Council and Invertebrates Australia, and it asks three simple things: find a bug, snap a photo, and share it on iNaturalist, where experts and fellow enthusiasts help name what you found. Last spring's first week brought in over 40,000 observations from more than 5,000 people, and since Bug Hunt began in October 2025, more than one million observations of Australian invertebrates have been uploaded. Around 70 per cent of our native invertebrates are still undescribed by Western science, so a clear photo can add something genuinely new. "When we look closely, we discover how much life is right under our noses," says Alison Mellor, citizen science coordinator at Invertebrates Australia.
Joining is free. Download the iNaturalist app, join the Bugs In My Backyard Week 2026 project, and upload photos taken during the week. Every observation enters prize draws for a $100 Australian Geographic shop voucher and an Invertebrates Australia gift pack, with awards for most species, most remote record and best photo, plus three random draws. No need to know the species: if it looks like a beetle, calling it a beetle is a great start. Students can enter a bug art competition until 23 November. Bug Hunt won the Gold Tier Award, worth $50,000, in the 2025 Australian Geographic Society Awards for Nature, and asks one kindness of every bug detective: look, photograph, and leave them be.
Sources and links
An Earth to Sea News story, from Bug Hunt (Invasive Species Council and Invertebrates Australia) and the Bugs In My Backyard Week 2026 pack shared by the Australian Geographic Society. Photographs: as credited in captions.
