Last week of October, the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences, CZU, hosted the long-awaited "Hylobius Workshop", which was attended by 25 scientists from 10 countries. The workshop was jointly organized by the French National Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Environment under the scientific sponsorship of one of Europe's leading scientists in the field of biotic risks to forests, Hervé Jactel. On behalf of the FLD, the workshop was chaired by Prof. Tomas Hlásny, Head of the Forest Risk Research Centre, and Prof. Jaroslav Holuša, Head of the Department of Forest Protection and Entomology.
The aim of the workshop was to discuss trends in the ecology, monitoring and control of one of the most important pests of conifer seedlings, the pine weevil (Hylobius abietis). In the context of the enormous increase in disturbed forest areas across Europe, seedling protection is a very important topic. New concepts were discussed in the field of genetically targeted insecticides, defence priming, the use of wood admixtures with repellent effect on the weevil, or the use of biological control methods based on entomopathogenic fungi. The participants were introduced to the faculty's laboratories and also to the popular "virtual shooting range", where they tested their shooting skills. An important outcome of the workshop is a plan for the development of a synthesis study that will summarize current knowledge on the ecology and management of pine weevil and identify priorities for future research.
