Dr Bruce Halliday is a Research Fellow in acarology in the Australian National Insect Collection, with interests in all areas of the systematics and biology of mites.
Dr Bruce Halliday has 20 years of experience in the field of acarology, the study of mites and ticks. His main area of interest has been in mites that are pests of agriculture, and in beneficial mites that are used to control these pests.
This type of biological and integrated control of pests requires the accurate identification of both the pest and its natural enemies, so a major component of Dr Halliday's research program has been in mite taxonomy.
Current activities
Dr Halliday is now a Post Retirement Research Fellow at the Australian National Insect Collection (ANIC), having retired from full-time employment in March 2005.
His main area of activity is taxonomic research on diverse families of Australian Mesostigmata and, in collaboration with colleagues in Poland, the taxonomically confusing families of Uropodina.
Background
After completing his Doctorate, Dr Halliday spent three years at the University of East Anglia, England, working on the population genetics of the alpine grasshopper Podisma pedestris.
Decisions about the control, management and conservation of the mite fauna depends on accurate identification, based on careful taxonomic research.
He joined CSIRO as an acarologist in 1981, and has pursued a variety of projects in the systematics and biology of mites.
One of his major projects grew out of the use of predatory mites of the family Macrochelidae to help in the control of dung-breeding pest flies. This eventually led to a major review of the Australian members of this family, including almost 60 species, with spin-off studies of a number of families that have similar biology and behaviour to the Macrochelidae.
The redlegged earth mite Halotydeus destructor is a very serious pest of crops and pastures in southern Australia. Dr Halliday and his colleagues carried out a long-term study of this pest and its natural enemies, with a major emphasis in basic taxonomic research to ensure that both the pest and its natural enemies can be accurately identified.
Academic qualifications
Dr Halliday received his Bachelor of Science with Honours and Doctorate in Genetics and Zoology from the University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia.
Achievements
Dr Halliday includes in his publications checklists of the mites of Australia, both in book form and on the internet. These publications provide a resource that forms the starting point for any study of mites in Australia.
He is a member of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, and also serves on the editorial boards of several journals.
Find out more about the Australian National Insect Collection.
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