• MSc scholarship offer: quantification of aphid diversity
Help resolve one of the big challenges in entomology! The damage to our vegetable crops caused by aphids, especially through the transmission of disease, makes them one of the most significant insect pests. Controlling these diverse and abundant pests requires an understanding of their population sizes. We are seeking to quantify the diversity and abundance […]
• MSc or PhD scholarship offer: Integrative aphid taxonomy
PROJECT SUMMARYThe student will conduct an integrative cybertaxonomic revision of a genus of arboreal aphid using biological data such as DNA sequences, morphology, and host plant association. The project is comprehensive, addressing the discovery, delimitation, diagnosis and description of species or subgenera, as well as the preparation of specimen determination tools. It involves fieldwork, molecular […]
• MSc scholarship offer: weevil temporal diversity in Panama
Project description• From 1999 to 2017, at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute’s Barro Colorado Island Biodiversity Research Center in Panama, adjacent to a tropical forest plot established in 1982 for the study of forest evolution, ten Malaise traps systematically captured around 15,000 weevil specimens (family Curculionidae) representing 1,350 species. Specimens were identified by a weevil […]
• Article: The effects on insects of plant-associated microorganisms
We are delighted that the last two chapters of Élisée’s thesis have just been jointly published in the journal Microorganisms. He only just completed his PhD! They discuss the effects of beneficial microorganisms associated with soybean roots on the health of insect populations of the second and third trophic levels (an herbivore and its natural […]
• Recruiting: Master’s student in insect pathology
We’re recruiting a motivated student interested in studying insect pathology and insect production for consumption at the University of Montreal starting in September 2022! SUMMARY OF THE PROJET. Global demand for animal protein is expected to double by 2050. Following an FAO (2013) publication praising the ecological and nutritional merits of edible insects, as compared […]
• Newly minted: Dr Dabré
Many congratulations to the new PhD! Élisée successfully defended his dissertation 28 March 2022 and has since submitted the final version to the university: The effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal and rhizobacterial inoculants on soybean insects. Soil microorganism inoculants are often used in agriculture to boost the growth and hence the yield of various crops, […]
• Shining stars at the Quebec entomology society meeting
With four oral presentations and two posters, the lab was well-represented at the virtual annual meeting of the Quebec entomology society this year (25 November 2021). Élisée Emmanuel Dabré (PhD student) presented the results of his experiments, examining the effects of bacterial and fungal root inoculation on the soybean aphid and its natural enemies. Malek […]
• Adwa receives her master’s
Adwa ABDOU ALI’s thesis has just been formally accepted by the university! Her research, culminating in her thesis titled Insects of the date palm in traditional and modern orchards of Djibouti, compared the abundance of several potential insect pests of date palms in modern, monocultural orchards, and in older, traditional, and polycultural orchards, the kind […]
• Article: Insects and mycorrhizae in soybean fields
We have published a new article in the journal PLOS ONE. This publication is the first one based on the research of doctoral student Élisée Emmanuel DABRÉ. The use of beneficial microorganisms, such as arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and plant growth promoting rhizobacteria as biofertilizers in agricultural systems, has gained particular interest in recent years due […]
• Article: The Odonata of Quebec
The Ouellet-Robert Collection has a wonderful set of dragonfly and damselfly specimens (insect order Odonata) thanks in large part to the efforts of its eponymous founder, Adrien Robert. Indeed, the Odonata collection is so good that we chose a damselfly, the superb jewelwing (Calopteryx amata), as the emblem for the collection. Before I arrived at […]