A SPECIES of bee, regarded as the cane toad of the insect world, has invaded Australia and may seriously disrupt the nation's farming industry.

Restricting water access to cane toads could be the most effective way to reduce their spread, a study has found. A team led by a Sydney ecologist, Mike Letnic, erected fences around artificial water holes in the Victoria River catchment in the Northern Territory. In three days, toads in the..read more

Lack of fact, logic and argument THANKS, Greg Craven (Comment & Debate, 4/11), for providing an academic example of an ad hominem argument — one which attacks the person instead of debating their ideas. Rather than comparing atheists to frogs and blowflies, a sound argument would account logically and factually for..read more

"IT'S not the next cane toad," insists Mick Townsend of the controversial crop close to harvesting on his farm near Canowindra.

TWENTY years ago Mark Lewis made a popular comic documentary that showed how Australians were dealing with the expanding menace of the cane toad. That overseas interest has led to a feature-length sequel to Cane Toads: An Unnatural History, which Lewis starts filming in two weeks. It is partly backed..read more