Latest Bloggers

Doris | SPOTTERON
10 posts
Design and communication at SPOTTERON
Sylvain Poggi (INRAE)
3 posts
Quantitative ecologist and data scientist at th...
Sara Boschi (Unisi)
1 post
Sara Boschi (Unisi) has not set their biography yet
Agostino Strangi (CREA - DC)
4 posts
Agostino Strangi (CREA - DC) has not set their biography yet

From Twitter

05 August 2024
Pest management
#IPMPopillia
Pupils from class 2D had a good intuition! In fact, the Fungzuka device is being tested by CREA's researchers since summer 2023. The "Fungzuka" is an "Attract-Infest-Release" device that is conceived to bring adult Popillia japonica insects in c...
10 July 2024
Citizen Science
#IPMPopillia
Monitoring
In recent months, the IPM Popillia Consortium has collaborated with SPOTTERON to create informational and dissemination materials about the invasive Japanese beetle (Popillia japonica), which has been spreading across Europe for several years. R...
10 June 2024
Citizen Science
#IPMPopillia
Prof. Francesco Nardi (University of Siena) and Prof. Rossella Annoni (junior high school G. Falcone, Cassina de' Pecchi, Milan) have been working together, this past year, with class 2D (12-13 years old pupils) on Popillia within the context of the ...

Young minds got it right!

hF_HrFme Fungzuka device
Pupils from class 2D had a good intuition! In fact, the Fungzuka device is being tested by CREA's researchers since summer 2023. The "Fungzuka" is an "Attract-Infest-Release" device that is conceived to bring adult Popillia japonica insects in contact with the spores of an entomopathogenic fungus and let them fly away carrying with them their ...
Continue reading
  689 Hits
689 Hits

Popillia grub detectives at work in Zurich

Pj-rubs-Hunting_Zurich2 PopilliaJaponica_grub-detectives
Since 2023, the village of Kloten north of Zurich is not only famous for the Zurich Airport and for having a great ice hockey team, but also for harboring the first Popillia population in Europe north of the Alps. In summer and autumn of 2023, huge efforts were made to eradicate this population, including insecticide sprays, the erection of LLINs-t...
Continue reading
  757 Hits
757 Hits

Automated reporting of Japanese beetle observations to national authorities within the IPM Popillia Citizen Science App

SPOTTERON_IPMPopillia_ReportingSystem_Cover_01
Regulatory reporting  of invasive alien species or controlled pests such as the Japanese beetle to national authorities can be challenging for citizens. Therefore, in the IPM Popillia Horizon 2020 project, the "Automated Reporting System" (ARS) was developed by SPOTTERON for the IPM Popillia Citizen Science App to process automated reports and...
Continue reading
  1012 Hits
1012 Hits

First outbreak of Japanese beetle north of the alps

DO_Headerbild_NorthernAlps_DO Japanese Beetle detected in the north of the alps
Europe is facing the first Japanese beetle outbreak north of the alps. The phytosanitary service of Zurich in Switzerland has detected Popillia japonica in monitoring traps and on herbs and shrubs in an area close to the airport of Zurich. The deliminated infested zone is rather small, and the low numbers of beetles caught indicate that the outbrea...
Continue reading
  1385 Hits
1385 Hits

Popillia japonica documentary on SRF Wissen

IPM_Blog02_Header_v03_DO-2 Popilla japonica contribution on SRF Wissen
After the Azores and Italy, the Popillia japonica beetle is already present in Switzerland. SRF Wissen has recently published a documentary about invasive species in Europe, that vividly shows how important research and methods are when it comes to tackle the problem. Agroscope, coordinator of the Horizon 2020 project IPM Popillia, is rep...
Continue reading
  995 Hits
995 Hits

Testing long-lasting insecticide-treated nets

20210629_13291_20230504-131107_1
Some years ago, when I was in Kenya to carry out a part of my PhD program on the adaptations to terrestrial life in fiddler crabs, I slept in a bed protected by an insecticide net that prevented from mosquitos' bites and related diseases. At that time I would have never thought that one day I would have used them in my research!    Nets a...
Continue reading
  1286 Hits
1286 Hits

The Big Field Experiment

JHMU771_20221114-201000_1 Working in the field with the Swiss Alps in the background
In September 2021 we started the big field experiment in the Piedmont region, a highly infested zone. Giovanni Bosio from the plant health service of the Piedmont region found meadows which were not treated yet and with willing owners to let us do experiments with different biological control agents (BCA). We treated the meadows with 2 different st...
Continue reading
  1454 Hits
1454 Hits

Effects of test treatments on P. japonica gene expression

pop_post
In collaboration with colleagues from CREA (Florence), we have treated popillias with three experimental control protocols that appear as promising candidates in their hands. Treated popillias have been snap frozen for molecular analysis. In the next months we will evaluate the effects of different treatments in terms of gene expression. With these...
Continue reading
  1761 Hits
1761 Hits

Field work for an economist

Field work
Definitely not my ususal workweek! I am an economist at the Technical University of Munich, usually sitting in an office with a computer and conducting research there. But not this time… As I am part of the IPM Popillia project, which consists of an interdisciplinary research team, I was invited by our partner Agroscope to join them in th...
Continue reading
  1394 Hits
1394 Hits

Another Day in the Field

Vercelli - Football field Vercelli - Football field
We need more larvae, a lot more larvae! That's our mission, our first in this year. This time we were headed to a field in Vercelli, Piedmont. While driving, the bus would shake and make weird noises when applying the brakes which is why we stopped a first time to inspect our tires and a second time at a mechanics to let him check properly.  W...
Continue reading
  1564 Hits
1564 Hits

Growth in a giant steel grub: Mass production of insecticidal nematodes

Growth in a giant steel grub: Mass production of insecticidal nematodes
Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN) are naturally occurring in the environment and make their living by infecting, killing and propagating in insects. They can be used as biological control agents against Popillia japonica larvae. The mass production is done in artificial medium by the partner e-Nema. Here a short video on how this mass production wor...
Continue reading
  1488 Hits
1488 Hits

​How to control the spread of the Japanese beetle? - The importance of a good surveillance strategy.

pexels-nastyasensei-33539_20210702-080947_1
The Japanese beetle, historically present in Japan, managed to invade the United States of America during the 20th century and has recently been detected in both Canada and Europe. In Europe, the beetle has invaded almost all of the Azores islands (Portugal) and covers an area ranging from the north of Italy (Lombardia and Piemonte) to the south of...
Continue reading
  1729 Hits
1729 Hits

Natural allies against Popillia japonica: Entomopathogenic fungi

Metarhizium robertsii strain 17/T02
Entomopathogenic fungi are micro-organisms naturally occurring in the environment, most of all in soil. They are natural parasites of insects that proliferate killing their host. Metarhizium is one of the most used ones in biological control. The CREA team has isolated a Metarhizium robertsii strain called 17/T02 ...
Continue reading
  1915 Hits
1915 Hits

App Download Links (QR-Codes)

Android
(Google Play) 

qrcode app Popillia googleplay

iPhone
(Apple App Store) 

 qrcode appPopillia appstore

 EU Flag This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 861852

twitter