The many essential tasks that insects perform in almost all ecosystems make the current global decline in their numbers especially alarming. Several species play a key role in the pollination of agricultural crops, for example, as well as natural pest control. At the same time, other species are themselves pests or potential vectors for diseases and thus need to be controlled.
This area of tension with regard to handling insects also impacts viticulture, an idea that Professor Annette Reineke, Vice-President of Research at Hochschule Geisenheim University's and one of the conference's organizers, underlined during her welcome address. Thanks to intensive research, however, it is becoming increasingly possible to implement targeted pest control without causing harm to people, the environment, or other insects. “The times of using arsenic in vineyards to combat pests are thankfully long over,” Reineke said. Contemporary methods are so advanced that previously dreaded pests, such as phylloxera, can now be controlled effectively. Nonetheless, the spread of invasive species and the impact of climate change pose huge new problems for both farmers and native insect populations. During this four-day conference, international specialists had the chance to discuss an approach to these challenges in detail.
Conference Met with Considerable Interest
The conference was a particularly special occasion for Professor Jürgen Gross, the president of the DGaaE. After 20 years, he has chosen to step down as president of the association in order to focus his attention on his appointment by the Julius Kühn Institute and Hochschule Geisenheim University as Institute Head and Professor of Plant Protection in Fruit Crops and Viticulture. “It’s nice to stop when new things are starting,” said Professor Gross at the inaugural event, referring to his new workplace in Geisenheim. While he explained that it was difficult for him to say goodbye, he was all the more pleased about the considerable interest in this year’s conference, which featured 150 specialist lectures for around 300 participants, as well as 50 more presentations than last time.
A highlight of the conference was the public lecture held by Professor Josef Settele on the Tuesday evening. The well-known German agrobiologist and ecologist is also head of the Department of Conservation Biology & Social-Ecological Systems at the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research in Halle. During his lecture he provided a vivid picture of how international agreements for the protection of biodiversity are created and how they contribute to insect diversity. Over 150 attendees, including many interested members of the public, were at the event, which was hosted in the university’s new lecture hall building.
Awards for Exceptional Research and Young Talent
During the conference, Professor Gerald Moritz was awarded the DGaaE's Fabricius Medal for his many years of research into thrips. In his acceptance speech, Moritz spoke of the undeviating enthusiasm shared by entomologists: “You can’t exactly pet thrips – if you're planning to focus on these tiny, seemingly unremarkable creatures, you’ve got to really want it.”
Dr. Joachim Ziegler was awarded the Meigen Medal for his work on predatory flies at the DGaaE general meeting. The Weiss-Wiehe Foundation's two young talent prizes for an outstanding dissertation or bachelor's thesis were awarded to Dr. Lara-Sophie Dey and Marcel Decker. In addition, three poster prizes and three prizes for the Young Entomologists' Challenge were awarded on Wednesday evening.
For the President of Hochschule Geisenheim University, Professor Hans Reiner Schultz, the Entomology Congress 2025 was the ideal first major scientific event for the university’s new lecture hall building. “The topics of climate change, invasive species, interactions between plants and insects, but also the use of artificial intelligence to protect biodiversity and crops are of great concern to us here at the university. That's why it’s important for us to hold conferences like this in Geisenheim,” says Schultz.
The conference was supported by numerous sponsors, including Bayer, the German Research Foundation, BIOCARE, and many more.
Further Information
You can find the full conference program on the DGaaE’s website.
