Swiss Entomological Society meeting reports insect monitoring and parasitoid experiments

The Swiss Entomological Society’s 2023 annual meeting presented research on Swiss insect diversity, long-term monitoring, climate and land-use effects, and parasitoids in applied pest control. The meeting was held at ETH Zurich on 3 and 4 March, with board elections conducted by videoconference on 27 March. Glenn Litsios of info fauna in Neuchâtel began the Friday programme with a review of biodiversity monitoring, data collection and processing.

He reported that several insect groups in Switzerland are well documented, enabling models of changes in species composition and the production of checklists and Red Lists. Data remain insufficient for many groups and rare species because they are difficult to survey or require specialist knowledge. The presentation also emphasized connections among specialists, the public and international biodiversity databases.

About half of Switzerland’s biodiversity data are supplied by private individuals, making improved submission through websites and applications important. Swiss records are also forwarded to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Eight Friday presentations covered 20 years of monitoring data for butterflies and aquatic insects, links between specimens and literature, the contribution of climate and land-use changes to changes in insect distributions in Switzerland since 1980, and the benefits and risks of parasitoids in crop protection.

Other talks addressed beneficial insects and sugar-beet pests, parasitoids used against invasive insects, and progress on a catalogue of Swiss beetles. The Saturday programme included Christoph Vorburger’s principal lecture from Eawag Dübendorf and ETH Zurich, which reported an animal experiment on how endosymbiotic bacteria affect aphid–parasitoid interactions. The bacteria can kill the eggs of parasitoid wasps and provide aphids with some protection, but the effect appears to depend on the genotypes of both the wasps and the symbionts.

Over successive generations in the experiment, infection rates among parasitoids increased as the parasites appeared to adapt to the endosymbiont genotype. Greater genetic diversity among parasitoids could potentially produce stronger reductions in host populations, the researchers proposed. The source presents this as a possible application for biological control rather than a demonstrated field outcome.

Other Saturday presentations addressed parasitoids of oilseed rape and crop pests, and parasitoids in buildings. Further presentations covered an update to a Swiss stonefly DNA-barcode reference database, and population density and sexual selection in an insect model. Other talks examined how climate change and infection influence mosquito thermal preferences, and the fitness consequences of heatwaves in Drosophila melanogaster. At the general assembly, attended by 21 members and one guest, the auditors requested approval of the 2022 accounts, and the treasurer was granted discharge. Members also approved a 2023 budget forecasting a loss of CHF 4,750.

Swiss members remained liable for CHF 60, while members in training paid CHF 30, with the reduced-fee period extended from three to five years. The 2022 accounts closed with a loss of CHF 5,454.64, and the society’s assets stood at CHF 107,452.92. The revised statutes explicitly designated Alpine Entomology as the society’s journal and replaced the librarian position with a media officer.

At the 27 March videoconference, Dominique Mazzi of Agroscope was unanimously elected president for 2023–2026, becoming the first Ticinese woman to hold the office. The meeting also honoured Jacques Derron and Bernhard Merz and awarded Christian Roesti the Prix Moulines for his book presenting all 126 stonefly species then known in Switzerland.

Subject of Research: An account of Swiss insect-monitoring research, parasitoid experiments and society business presented at the 2023 annual meeting.

Article Title: Protokoll der Jahresversammlung der Schweizerischen Entomologischen Gesellschaft vom 3., 4. und 27. März 2023 an der ETH Zürich und via Videokonferenz

Article References: Neumann, M. (2023). Protokoll der Jahresversammlung der Schweizerischen Entomologischen Gesellschaft vom 3., 4. und 27. März 2023 an der ETH Zürich und via Videokonferenz. Alpine Entomology, 7, 279-283. https://doi.org/10.3897/alpento.7.114602

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.3897/alpento.7.114602

Keywords: Swiss Entomological Society, insect monitoring, biodiversity data, parasitoid wasps, aphid symbionts, biological control, Swiss insects, animal experiment, ETH Zurich, Protokoll, Jahresversammlung, Schweizerischen