Joint Annual Meeting of the Entomological Societies of Quebec and Canada 2024

Organizers: Jacinta Kong and Matthew Muzzatti

Rearing insects en masse is crucial for numerous industries, including biocontrol agents for pest management, laboratory populations, and the insects as food and feed sector. Academic institutions, industrial companies, and government all feed into the sustained development of the industry through improvements to the farming process, the development of policy and regulations, and ensuring there is enough supply to meet demand for insect agriculture. Recent advances in our understanding of fundamental insect biology and the rapid development and adoption of emerging technologies have also poised the insect mass rearing industry for rapid growth in Canada. Examples include monitoring of biotic and abiotic conditions to leverage our developing understanding of insect growth and development, machine learning and automation for collecting large quantities of data and reducing dependence on manual labour, and the development of sustainable practices. Thus, insect mass rearing relies on collaborative interdisciplinary partnerships to drive advancements, but these partnerships are not always established, and communication between relevant mass-rearing enterprises can be minimal. This symposium will be an integration of experts from academia and industry working on various aspects of insect mass rearing with the goals of showcasing recent advances in the Canadian insect mass-rearing industry and developing a roadmap for better implementation of policy and collaboration.

Organizers: Sabrina Rondeau and Susan Willis Chan

Wild insect pollinators are universally acknowledged as beneficial contributors to ecosystems, embodying the 'good’. This symposium invites researchers, practitioners, and pollinator enthusiasts to explore the core methodologies essential for studying wild pollinators. Rather than showcasing research results, the focus of this session is on sharing robust methods and techniques that underpin effective pollinator research. Themes within this symposium encompass a wide array of methodological approaches. From genetic tools elucidating population dynamics to field and laboratory methods for studying various bee species, attendees will learn about techniques for behavioural, ecotoxicological, and ecological research as well as for species conservation, including those at risk. Moreover, discussions will extend to innovative methodologies such as radio-telemetry and approaches for studying cognition in wild bees. Sampling methods, community science initiatives, and more will also be explored. This symposium offers a collaborative platform for advancing methodologies in wild pollinator research.

Organizers: Evelyne Barrette and Louis Morneau

Le symposium explorera les différentes initiatives et projets où les connaissances en entomologie forestière ont été mises en valeur et intégrées à la pratique pour contribuer à une meilleure gestion des insectes dans les forêts du Québec. Les principaux sujets abordés seront :• Les réseaux de suivi et d’acquisition de connaissances;• Les projets de recherche;• Le patrimoine entomologique;• Les outils d’aide à la décision.

Organizer: Jens Roland

This symposium focuses on the role of long-term studies of forest insect population dynamics. We highlight some of these studies as providing new insights into forest insect dynamics, and in doing so illustrate the value of long-term population studies. This symposium is particularly poignant with the recent passing of Dr. Tom Royama, CFS Atlantic, who helped pioneer much of our understanding of forest insect population dynamics.

Organizers: Meghan Vankosky and Véronique Martel

What is good, bad, and ugly might be a matter of perspective, but pests of agriculture and forestry are almost always bad for the plants they consume (or compete with, in the case of weeds) and for the humans that rely on those plants for food and fibre. Canada has a rich history of using biological control as a component of IPM programmes to manage insects, weeds, and plant pathogens. This history is documented in the book series, Biological Control Programmes in Canada and the newest version of this book will be available by fall 2024. This symposium, co-hosted by the co-editors of Biological Control Programmes in Canada, 2013-2023 will highlight a diverse array of the insect, weed, and plant pathogens that are targeted for biological control in Canada. Biological control programs of interest include long-running programmes and new programmes for new invasive species to Canada. The presentations will highlight the positive impacts of ‘good’ species (that might be ugly-looking) on ‘bad’ species (that might also be ugly-looking) and the importance of biological control as part of IPM programmes. 

Organizer: Joe Bowden

Deep learning and computer vision represents a disruptive technology: one that will substantially alter the way in which we detect, measure and identify insects for monitoring purposes. These rapidly advancing technologies, machine learning and camera systems (along with audio, and molecular tools like meta-barcoding), will greatly contribute to (but is not limited to) the detection of alien invasive species, irruptive pest insects, new species, and biodiversity -which is declining rapidly. This symposium aims to highlight projects underway that seek to advance our ability to detect, measure and identify this critically important and diverse group of animals and stimulate discussions on where we are, and where we need to go to in this field of 'automated entomology'.