Dr Francesco Martoni1, Dr Reannon Smith1, Dr Alexander Piper1,3, Dr Mohammad Aftab2, Narelle Nancarrow2, Dr Piotr Trebicki2, Dr Brendan Rodoni1,3, Dr Mark Blacket1
1Agriculture Victoria Research – AgriBio Centre for AgriBiosciences, Bundoora, Australia, 2Agriculture Victoria Research – Grains Innovation Park, Horsham, Australia, 3La Trobe University – School of Applied System Biology, Bundoora, Australia
Surveillance and long-term monitoring of insect pest populations are of paramount importance to limit dispersal and inform pest management. Molecular methods have been employed in diagnostics, surveillance and monitoring for the past few decades, often paired with more traditional techniques relying on morphological examinations. Within this context, the iMapPESTS project was conceptualised to enhance on-farm pest management decision-making via development and deployment of smart traps, able to collect samples of insect, as well as recording associated environmental data. Here we compared an iMapPESTS smart trap to an alternative suction trap over a 10-week period. We used a non-destructive insect metabarcoding approach complemented by insect morphological diagnostics to assess and compare aphid species presence and diversity across trap samples and time, and paired this with environmental data recorded throughout the sampling period. This methodology recorded almost 500 different taxa from 70 traps over a 10-week period in the grain growing region in Victoria. This included not only the 14 aphid species targeted morphologically but an additional 12 species, including a new record for Victoria. Ultimately, with more than 450 non-target species detected, this highlighted the value of insect metabarcoding not only for pest surveillance but also at a broader ecosystem level, with potential for integrated pest management and biocontrol.
Biography:
Dr Francesco Martoni is an entomology research scientist at Agriculture Victoria. Francesco has a BSc in Biology and a MSc in biodiversity and evolution from the University of Bologna (Italy), and a PhD in entomology from the Lincoln University (New Zealand). Francesco’s interests range from the taxonomy and systematic of psyllids (Hemiptera: Psylloidea) to the barcoding and metabarcoding of insects and vectored bacteria. In the last four years, Francesco has focused on optimising non-destructive metabarcoding methods from agricultural insect traps, to use high thoughput sequencing for biosecurity and plant protection.