Sean Schoville and I are convening a symposium titled, “Rapid Evolution of Insect Pests in Agroecosystems”. This symposium is part of the International Congress of Entomology.
2016 XXV International Congress of Entomology, in Orlando, Florida, USA | September 25-30.
An unresolved challenge for agriculture is to understand how to manage the inherent ability of insect pests to rapidly evolve and overcome pest control measures. This symposium will broaden the entomology community’s understanding of rapid evolutionary processes that characterize pest adaptation to agroecosystems. Understanding rapid evolutionary change is a critical component to seeing “beyond the borders of entomology”, in order to explain and mitigate the inherent dynamism of arthropod pests to respond to (and frequently overcome) human management practices. To accomplish this goal, we have drawn on the diverse expertise of international researchers working in phylogeography, population genetics, invasion genetics, evolutionary theory, pesticide resistance, and pest management, covering a broad range of arthropod pests. We propose that greater knowledge on evolutionary processes, system complexities, and management strategies that can be used to improve agroecosystem sustainability.