MEET THE BUG HUNTERS
JackJac and Kelly have found ann unusual way to make a buckk
Gum boots on, containers in hand, Jack and Kelly Barker are looking for their fortune. But the two children from the Northern Territory aren’t panning for gold. The determined pair have discovered something else that’s far easier to find but can still be swapped for pocket money – bugs!
“Mum told us on the drive home from school one day that farmers want Calligrapha beetles to eat the sida weed on their pastures,” Jack, 12, tells Woman’s Day from his family’s house in Livingstone, outside Darwin. “We see those bugs in our paddock all the time.”
That afternoon the competitive siblings set each other a challenge to find the most beetles to sell.
The green and black ladybird-like creatures hide under the leaves of their favourite sida weed treat and it wasn’t long before Kelly, 10, found a haul.
“I was very frustrated I couldn’t find any at first but I soon caught up,” says Jack. “In about 10 minutes we’d got 120 beetles between us. I think Kelly got two more than me.”
What started as a game quickly became far more than that when the little entrepreneurs re realised how much each beetle wa was worth.
“Farmers pay $2 per beetle,” says Jack. “I was pretty surprised. I thought they were just bugs like any other.”
The high price is because the Calligrapha beetle is the best way to control the introduced weed that is ravaging farms across the Top End. The beetle only eats the sida plant and none of the crops or grasses that are needed for livestock to feed on.
“I’ve always dreamed of starting my own business to make an extra buck,” says Jack.
Given that the Barkers live on an eight-hectare block in a cul-de-sac, pitching up a lemonade stand was never a viable option – but bug collecting has been profitable.
“We started going out after school to collect them and we got a Facebook page to sell them on,” says Jack. “We made $450 between us.”
Unfortunately for the entrepreneurial pair, the business has been on a break during winter as the bugs only thrive in the wet.
But Jack and Kelly have orders of up to 1500 beetles for September when the rain and the Calligrapha beetles return.
“I’ve got an expensive hobby flying radio control planes,” Jack says, explaining how motivated he is to continue as a beetle magnate.
Kelly also has her sights set high. “I’m saving for a pony,” she says, adding, “And I always try and beat Jack.”
‘We started collecting them after school… we made $450’