Insect-IMP was represented at the 13th World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production (WCGALP 2026), one of the leading international conferences in animal genetics and breeding, held every four years.
The Action’s participation included Gertje Petersen in a plenary debate and a dedicated session, “Insect-IMP: Genetics of Farmed Insects”, where researchers presented their work on honey bee and farmed insect genetics.
With financial support from the Insect-IMP COST Action (CA22140) through Conference Grants, three researchers presented their work:
- Estimation of variance components in honey bee populations – Jana Obšteter
- Beyond Borders, Across Generations: Hybridization Effects on Reproduction Performance, Adult Longevity and Larval Growth in Tenebrio molitor – Panagiota Soulioti
- Genetic parameters and genotype-by-diet (G × D) interactions for growth traits in Australian Black Soldier Fly larvae – Kishor Gowda Bommalingegowda
The presentations generated interest among researchers working with traditional livestock species and highlighted the potential of applying established genetic improvement approaches to farmed insects.
Participation in WCGALP 2026 helped raise awareness of insect breeding within the wider animal genetics community, encouraged knowledge exchange across species and opened opportunities for future international collaborations.