Queensland Plant Pathology Herbarium and Primary Industries Insect Collection

The Queensland Plant Pathology Herbarium (BRIP) and Queensland Primary Industries Insect Collection (QDPC) support the reliable and accurate identification of plant diseases and insect pests in Queensland.

The BRIP holds specimens of most of Queensland’s known fungal pathogens of plants, whilst the QDPC holds most of Queensland’s agriculturally important insects, including pests and beneficials, as well as major collections of overseas material, especially dacine tephritid fruit flies.

Supporting the Biosecurity Act 2014, the collections and associated taxonomic expertise are critical in supporting Queensland's biosecurity through the early detection and diagnostics of new and emerging plant diseases and pests.

State scientific collections

The Plant Pathology Herbarium contains:

  • more than 630,000 specimens representing almost 600 fungal species in Australia
  • a collection of 23,000 fungal cultures and 1,000 bacterial cultures in Australia.

The Insect Collection contains:

  • about 1.5 million pinned insect specimens, including a major beetle collection and approximately 100,000 dacine fruit flies
  • more than 52,000 slide-mounted specimens, primarily representing thrips, scale insects, aphids, and whiteflies
  • a significant collection of ethanol-preserved specimens.

Access to the collection

Access to either of these collections, which are co-located at the Ecosciences Precinct (Dutton Park), is by prior arrangement only. This can be organised by contacting the respective curator via the department’s contact us portal.

The BRIP Culture Collection is a potential source of natural products (chemicals, proteins, genes) that may have economic value in the search (bio-discovery) for novel compounds of benefit in pharmacology, biotechnology, industry and agriculture.

For more information about accessing the living cultures of fungi and bacteria from the DPI’s Fungal Culture Collection, contact the Curator Dr Roger Shivas via Roger.shivas@dpi.qld.gov.au.

Contact