Aston Arthur
Senior Research Scientist
Bachelor of Biological Sciences with Honours, PhD Genetics
Aston is passionate about pest management and has a long history of developing effective and sustainable control strategies for a range of agricultural pests. Throughout her career, she has developed extensive expertise in designing and conducting laboratory experiments, as well as field and shadehouse trials.
At Cesar Australia, Aston specialises in research on invertebrate pest management and insecticide resistance. She has managed and led several projects and is currently leading the GRDC-funded project on the redlegged earth mite – a pest she has worked on for nearly 20 years.
Aston enjoys the variety her job offers, from collecting invertebrates in the field to running trials in the field or shadehouse, conducting laboratory bioassays, or undertaking computer work. When not at work, Aston is busy with her family, running her children to sporting events, and enjoying her life at her home on the Edward River.
Paul Umina, Xuan Cheng, Moshe Jasper, James Maino, Aston Arthur, Nancy Endersby-Harshman, Matthew Binns, Ary Hoffmann (2024) Rapid in-field diagnostics to detect pyrethroid resistance in the redlegged earth mite, Halotydeus destructor (Trombidiformes: Penthaleidae) (Tucker). Austral Entomology 77: 3013-3024.
Paul Umina, James Maino, Owain Edwards, Xuan Cheng, Matthew Binns, Anthony van Rooyen, Sue Song, Andrew Weeks, Aston Arthur, Olivia Reynolds, Ary Hoffmann (2023) Fitness costs of pyrethroid resistance in the polyphagous pest mite, Halotydeus destructor, under field conditions. Journal of Pest Science 97: 185–197.
Paul Umina, Andrew Weeks, James Maino, Ary Hoffmann, Sue Song, Joshua Thia, Dustin Severtson, Xuan Cheng, Anthony van Rooyen, Aston Arthur (2022) Australian Bryobia mites (Trombidiformes: Tetranychidae) form a complex of cryptic taxa with unique climatic niches and insecticide responses. Pest Management Science 78: 2860-2871.
Aston Arthur, Lisa Kirkland, Evatt Chirgwin, Anthony van Rooyen, Paul Umina (2022) Baseline susceptibility of Australian Myzus persicae (Hemiptera: Aphididae) to novel insecticides flonicamid and afidopyropen. Crop Protection 158: 105992.
Paul Umina, Chris Bass, Anthony van Rooyen, Evatt Chirgwin, Aston Arthur, Adam Pym, Jo Mackisack, Andrew Mathews, Lisa Kirkland (2022) Spirotetramat resistance in Myzus persicae (Sulzer) (Hemiptera: Aphididae) and its association with the presence of the A2666V mutation. Pest Management Science 78: 4822-4831.
Aston Arthur, James Maino, Ary Hoffmann, Moshe Jasper, Alan Lord, Svetlana Micic, Owain Edwards, Anthony van Rooyen, Paul Umina (2021) Learnings from over a decade of increasing pesticide resistance in the redlegged earth mite, Halotydeus destructor (Tucker). Pest Management Science 77: 3013-3024.
Aston Arthur, Marielle Babineau, Paul Umina (2020) Insecticide responses in the Collembola pest, Sminthurus viridis (Collembola: Sminthuridae), in Australia. Journal of Economic Entomology 113: 1940-1945.
Paul Umina, Aston Arthur, Mathew Binns, James Maino (2019) A method to investigate neonicotinoid resistance in mites. Experimental and Applied Acarology 79: 345-357.
Aston Arthur, Ary Hoffmann, Paul Umina (2015) Challenges in devising economic spray thresholds for a major pest of Australian canola, the redlegged earth mite (Halotydeus destructor). Pest Management Science 71: 1462-1470.
Paul Umina, Sommer Jenkins, Stuart McColl, Aston Arthur, Ary Hoffmann (2015) A framework for identifying selective chemical applications for IPM in dryland agriculture. Insects 6: 988-1012.
Aston Arthur, Ary Hoffmann, Paul Umina (2014) Estimating densities of the pest Halotydeus destructor (Acari: Penthaleidae) in canola. Journal of Economic Entomology 107: 2204-2212.
Aston Arthur, Ary Hoffmann, Paul Umina (2013) Impact of Halotydeus destructor on crop seedlings at different plant developmental stages and levels of moisture stress. Environmental Entomology 42: 998-1012.
Aston Arthur, Stuart McColl, Paul Umina (2013) Synthetic pesticides show little efficacy against Balaustium medicagoense (Prostigmata: Erythraeidae) in the field compared with other pest mites. Australian Journal of Entomology 52: 259-267.
Aston Arthur, Adam Miller, Andrew Weeks (2011) Genetic markers indicate a new species complex of emerging pest mites in Australian grains. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 104: 402-415.
Aston Arthur, Andrew Weeks, Matthew Hill, Ary Hoffmann (2011) The distribution, abundance and life cycle of the pest mites Balaustium medicagoense (Prostigmata: Erythraeidae) and Bryobia spp. (Prostigmata: Tetranychidae) in Australia. Australian Journal of Entomology 50: 22-36.
Aston Arthur, Andrew Weeks, Paul Umina, Ary Hoffmann (2010) Survival and reproduction of the pest mites Balaustium medicagoense and Bryobia spp. on winter grain crops. Experimental and Applied Acarology 52: 141-153.
Paul Umina, Aston Arthur, Stuart McColl, Ary Hoffmann, John Roberts (2010) Selective control of mite and collembolan pests of pastures and grain crops in Australia. Crop Protection 29: 190-196.
Aston Arthur, Ary Hoffmann, Paul Umina, Andrew Weeks (2008) Emerging pest mites of grains (Balaustium medicagoense and Bryobia sp.) show high levels of tolerance to currently registered pesticides. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 48: 1126-1132.
Aston Arthur, Andrew Weeks and Carla Sgro (2008) Investigating latitudinal clines for life history and stress resistance traits in Drosophila simulans from eastern Australia. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 21(6): 1470-1479.