Gavin McGrath

Whether you love beetles or the giant mantis it's time to cast your vote for Australia's top insect.

Forget about being crammed on a suburban train, the real romance of rail is found through luxury long-distance inland trips or journeys back in time.

Nearly a decade after the final Australian-made car rolled out of a factory in South Australia, many people remember that Holdens and Fords were built here. But did you know Renaults, Ramblers and other foreign cars were also put together by Australian workers?

A mysterious world of colourful toadstools, ghostly mushrooms and bizarre white "cages" has emerged from the gloom.

Cape Clear is nowhere near the ocean, but it has a lighthouse and a "Viking longship" that residents plan to set alight for the winter solstice.

Once thriving with mining, farming or railways, it all came to an end in these places. Such is the history of Australia's many ghost towns.

Australia's native ants do an incredible amount of environmental and agricultural heavy lifting. Here are 10 of our mighty little workers. 

Four kilometres below the surface of the Tasman Sea is a strange world inhabited by even stranger creatures. In its autumn voyage, the CSIRO's Research Vessel Investigator took a closer look.

There are tens of thousands of exotic ornamental plants sold in Australian nurseries but fewer than a quarter have been assessed for their potential to become an invasive weed.

Noxious weeds cost Australia billions of dollars each year in agricultural and environmental degradation. These weeds of national significance are among the worst. 

If you are bitten by a large, black spider in Australia, the medical advice is to treat is as an emergency. However, not all such spiders are dangerous, with some often mistaken for the notorious funnel-web.

Bert O'Leary, who just celebrated his 100th birthday, shares the terror and drudgery of life as airman aboard a Vickers Wellington in the Battle of the Atlantic.

A small Victorian Fisheries Authority barge successfully removed a large quantity of European carp from Lake Wendouree late last year with a shocking new weapon — 1,000 volts of direct current electricity.

The mournful caw of a crow is part of Australia's bush soundtrack. But is it the sound of a crow or in fact a raven? It depends on where in Australia you are. Here are some tips on identifying these intelligent but often maligned creatures.

A cemetery represents the collected stories of all the people who have made a town what it is today. For some tourists, it's the equivalent of walking through a silent museum.

The moth or the butterfly? The stick insect or the hoverfly? The beetle or the bee? Can you guess which is the inaugural ABC Australian Insect of the Year?   

The ABC has begun its quest to find out which native six-legged marvel is Australia's most popular insect for 2024. Six experts have selected their finalists for an online poll.

There's a treasure trove of vintage flying machines to discover and admire around the country — including Mustangs, Spitfires and Kittyhawks — if you know where to look.

There are hundreds of dormant and extinct volcanoes across south-east Australia. They aren't likely to burst into life but it is "almost a given" that a new volcano will form somewhere else, according to a geosciences lecturer. 

These lonely sentinels are an anachronism when every commercial ship navigates using now-ubiquitous electronic global positioning, but they retain a special place in the hearts of seafarers.

With only a few hundred charming spider orchids left in the wild, the species' complex relationships with other organisms are thought to be hindering its survival.

When the National Holden Motor Museum closed and its rare cars became available, there was no shortage of buyers or money, despite the cost-of-living crisis.

Vaguely military in appearance — garish blue and green paint scheme notwithstanding — the vessel bristles with radar, sonar and other monitoring equipment. The object of its scrutiny has scientists worried.

When last drinks are called at a town's only pub, it can be a body blow for the community. Sometimes it's the final blow.

Event manager Adam McNicol says the idea to hold it in a regional city was ambitious, but with nearly 5,000 total registrations and overseas interest, it is being heralded as a success.