Allan Watt
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allanwatt.bsky.social
Allan Watt
@allanwatt.bsky.social

Living in the Scottish Borders, Fellow U.K. Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, co-organiser of the Alternet summer schools in Peyresq and member of the Alternet Management Board, Honorary Fellow and trustee Royal Entomological Society. .. more

Environmental science 43%
Agriculture 25%
Pinned
Applications for this year’s Alternet summer school open until the end of April: Biodiversity and society: transforming science and policy alterneteurope.eu/summerschool/ supported by @biodiversaplus.bsky.social and taking place in Peyresq, a mountain village in the Haute-de-Provence Alpes, France 🧪

Reposted by Allan Watt

Reposted by Allan Watt

James Bell and Graham Shephard use ultra high-speed photography to demonstrate the peculiar and mesmerising flight mechanics of aphids, which help us to understand their role in agriculture and how we might enhance their detection and control. (The videos are a must-watch!)
doi.org/10.1111/afe....

Reposted by Allan Watt

South Oxfordshire - With #wasps in the media and your garden, it's time for a FREE public talk devoted to them!

I'll be talking July 22nd - 7pm. Suitable for 12+ #Cholsey Pavilion

#MendTheGap #SpringlineProject
Book your free ticket here:
cholseyparishcouncil.gov.uk/springline-e...

#WaspLove

Reposted by Allan Watt

📢#RESAgForestEnt has a brand new May issue out

See what's published in Agricultural & Forest Entomology Volume 27, Issue 2🔽
resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14619563/2025/27/2

@jordancuff.bsky.social @allanwatt.bsky.social@chrisranger.bsky.social @ukladybirds.bsky.social @wiley.com

Dates 3-13th September 2025 and, once again, the summer school is held in Peyresq, Haute-de-Provence Alpes, France, with field trip to Lac d'Allos in the Parc National du Mercantour 2/2

"Biodiversity and society: transforming science and policy": this year's @alterneteurope.bsky.social summer school supported by @biodiversaplus.bsky.social is open for applicants from postgraduate students and early career researchers, deadline 30th April: alterneteurope.eu/summerschool... 1/2

Reposted by Allan Watt

Our Feb 2025 issue of Agricultural & Forest Entomology, @AFEntomology Vol 27 Issue 1, is a Special Issue:
Advances in Insect #Biomonitoring for Agriculture & Forestry

🌳🌾 resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14619563...

@jordancuff.bsky.social @allanwatt.bsky.social@chrisranger.bsky.social
🐝 UK insect researchers, we need your input 🦋

The RES is gathering insights on your experiences with #InsectEthics applications. Whether you engage in the process or not, your feedback matters!

🗓️ Deadline: 1 April 2025 🔽

royensoc.co.uk/news/res-wel...

#Entomology #ResearchSurvey
RES Great Welfare Survey 2025 - Royal Entomological Society
Insect Research Practices and Ethics in the UK Share Your Experience on Ethics Applications Are you a researcher working with insects? We need your insights! The Royal Entomological Society is conduct...
royensoc.co.uk

The Advances in Insect Biomonitoring for Agriculture and Forestry Special Issue includes this must watch/read paper on ultra high-speed photography of aphid flight, link to a video at the start: resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... #biodiversity #monitoring @royentsoc.bsky.social 🧪
James Bell and Graham Shephard use ultra high-speed photography to demonstrate the peculiar and mesmerising flight mechanics of aphids, which help us to understand their role in agriculture and how we might enhance their detection and control. (The videos are a must-watch!)
doi.org/10.1111/afe....

Great to see the Special Issue on Advances in Insect Biomonitoring led by @jordancuff.bsky.social now in print in the @royentsoc.bsky.social's Agricultural and Forest Entomology 🧪 #biodiversity #monitoring #AI #biocontrol #metabarcoding #camera #trapping #disease #surveillance #migration
Our Agricultural and Forest Entomology special issue on advances in insect biomonitoring was published today!

🌾🪲🔍🪰🌲

Explore new and upcoming advances in our ability to detect, identify and characterise insects in production systems!

resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14619563...

Reposted by Allan Watt

Santiago Masagué et al. demonstrate the importance of considering multiple sensory perspectives when designing monitoring methods. By altering the visual cues associated with pheromone lures for an invasive forest wasp, capture frequency was increased.
doi.org/10.1111/afe....

Reposted by Allan Watt

Ayman Asiri et al. review the potential for semiochemical analysis for the detection of insect diseases, focusing on the context of pollinators. They discuss recent advances that allow in-field surveillance, potential applications and future prospects.
doi.org/10.1111/afe....

Reposted by Allan Watt

Gaëtan Seimandi-Corda et al. review the increasing adoption of camera trapping for detecting insect predator-prey interactions. They discuss the equipment used, other parameters and considerations, guidance for new adopters and future advances likely to come soon.
doi.org/10.1111/afe....

Reposted by Allan Watt

@bensjhawthorne.bsky.social et al. review the integration of DNA metabarcoding with traditional insect monitoring methods in agriculture. Molecular analysis presents many distinct benefits, but also some challenges that require careful consideration and expertise.
doi.org/10.1111/afe....

Reposted by Allan Watt

@mukilansuresh.bsky.social et al. discuss the potential for computer vision and deep learning for identification of trapped insects, and the integration of DNA metabarcoding for cross-validation, facilitating construction of ecological networks.
resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Reposted by Allan Watt

My co-authors and I propose the need for year-round monitoring of biocontrol interactions to enhance our understanding of predator-pest dynamics, but this will demand various methodological innovations and considerations, for which we provide guidance.
doi.org/10.1111/afe....

Reposted by Allan Watt

@danielleybourne.bsky.social et al. discuss the significant advances that artificial intelligence brings to insect biomonitoring, particularly in providing decision support systems to help farmers identify pests and virus vectors, but also the challenges to overcome.
doi.org/10.1111/afe....

Reposted by Allan Watt

In an editorial, we summarise the articles within the special issue and provide a synthesis on the overarching themes and concepts, which include the various emerging technologies underpinning significant advances, alongside some conceptual changes in how and when we monitor.
doi.org/10.1111/afe....

Reposted by Allan Watt

Our Agricultural and Forest Entomology special issue on advances in insect biomonitoring was published today!

🌾🪲🔍🪰🌲

Explore new and upcoming advances in our ability to detect, identify and characterise insects in production systems!

resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14619563...

Species of beetles living in dead oak wood are influenced by degree of wood decay (from early to well decayed) in winter: new paper in @royentsoc.bsky.social Agricultural and Forest Entomology resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.... #saproxylic #insects #Coleoptera #biodiversity 🧪

Many thanks to all the authors (some pictured here) who published in the @royentsoc.bsky.social's Agricultural and Forest Entomology this year, and the many reviewers who supported @jordancuff.bsky.social, myself and the other editors: resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/1461... #insects 🧪

And to Laura Pietrantuono for a paper on the influence of host genetics on the feeding behaviour of a native moth on Nothofagus trees resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1... 🧪

Highly commended Early Career Entomologist awards for Agricultural and Forest Entomology went to Yevhen Suprunenko for work on the spread of an invasive forest pest, oak processionary moth resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1... 🧪[Photo from Forest Research]

The Agricultural and Forest Entomology ECR best paper award for 2023 goes to José Neiva Mesquita Neto for their paper showing that native pollinators can be more important than exotic bees imported in huge numbers from Europe for pollinating blueberry in Chile www.royensoc.co.uk/res-journal-... 🧪

The @royentsoc.bsky.social has just announced the winners of the new ECR awards for best papers in 2022 and 2023: the Agricultural and Forest Entomology award for 2022 goes to Kae Natsume for paper which shows how ants are underappreciated pollinators of crops www.royensoc.co.uk/res-journal-... 🧪

Please add me to your list (orcid.org/0000-0002-95...) Many thanks!
ORCID
orcid.org

Quantifying the foliage consumption of leaf-cutter ants, one of the most important insects pests in the Neotropics: New research in Agricultural and Forest Entomology from Fundación para el Estudio de Especies Invasivas, Buenos Aires, Argentina. resjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Privilege to know brings responsibility to act? How to define your power position - Sander Jacobs, last speaker at the Alternet Summer School #biodiversity #sciencepolicy