A recent paper shows that a ‘switching penalty’ incurred by parasitoids searching for host aphids could explain stable coexistence of parasitism-resistant and -susceptible aphid phenotypes in the population. The study highlights the importance of understanding diversity within aphid populations and how this influences the efficacy of aphid biocontrol by parasitoid wasps.

https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2656.13189

From the 20th to the 23rd of June 2019, the IPM@Hutton group ran a stand at the Royal Highland Show, Ingleston, in the James Hutton Institute marquee. Our members engaged with stakeholder and the wider public, discussing the Integrated Pest, Disease and Weed Management research that the Institute is engaged in.

IPM@Hutton will be at the Royal Highland Show (June 20th-23rd)

Please come and visit us to hear all about our work on IPM in the James Hutton Institute Marque

Stand location: Agricultureal, Avenue Q

Over the latter half of 2018, the Integrated Pest and Disease Management Strategic Group (IPM@Hutton) and Centre for Sustainable Cropping at the James Hutton Institute invited representatives of a range of external organisations and associations to form a stakeholder group, with which the IPM and CSC groups can interact, report to and receive feedback from. An inaugural stakeholder meeting was held at the James Hutton Institute on the morning of the 13th of December 2018.

EU member states recently voted to widen the partial ban of three key neonicotinoid insecticides to cover all outdoor crops; putting pressure on growers to find alternative methods of pest control.

Presentations on:  Integrated Pest Management of Potato at the Hutton - Jennie Brierley

                            Plant Health Centre of Expertise - Ian Toth

The James Hutton Institute presented aspects of their IPM research, including:

The James Hutton Institute is currently seeking applicants to undertake a PhD that will focus on aphid parasitoids and their hyper-parasitoids. The studentship is funded under the James Hutton Institute/University Joint PhD programme, in this case with the University of Greenwich. Please see the full advert on the FindAPhD website.

The James Hutton Institute is a beneficiary partner on the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network project ‘MiRA: Microbe-induced Resistance to Agricultural pests’, which started on 1st December 2017 and is co-ordinated by the University of Copenhagen. The project is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme and offers 15 PhD positions starting in April 2018 at different research institutions and companies in Europe.