The 26th IWGO (International Working Group on Ostrinia and other maize pests) Conference, organized by IWGO of IOBC (International Organization of Biological Control) - Global and Institute of Plant Protection, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences ( IPP-CAAS ), in collaboration with China Society of Plant Protection and MoA-CABI Joint Laboratory for Bio-safety, was held in Beijing on 10-12 April, 2017. The conference was declared a great success by 98 delegates from 11 countries participated, including the representatives from Belgium, Croatia, China, France, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, Italy, Switzerland, United States and Singapore.

Chaired by Dr. Zhenying WANG, IWGO Co-Convenor and Director of the Department of Agricultural Entomology of IPP-CAAS, Dr. Dongxin FENG, Director General of Department of International Cooperation of CAAS, Dr. Dewen QIU, Deputy Director General of IPP-CAAS, and Dr. Ulrich KUHLMANN, IWGO Convenor and Executive Director for Global Operations of CABI, delivered welcome addresses.

The conference programme featured 11 scientific sessions with 52 oral presentations and 9 poster presentations covering a range of interrelated topics. Many of the presentations were given by leading experts in the field. The 11 scientific sessions are as follows: ecology of maize pests and implications for their sustainable management, genomic and transcriptomic research applications in corn pest insects, environmental risk assessment of insect-resistant genetically modified maize, role of genotype by environment interaction in understanding innate resistance to maize pests, the evolution of resistance to insecticidal toxins by insect pests of maize, the evolution of resistance to insecticidal toxins by insect pests of maize, migratory pests of corn, regional suppression of lepidopteran pests by Bt corn, new research in rootworm basic biology and potential applications, new generation traits for management of maize pests, and biological control of maize pests. Seven experts from IPP-CAAS, Zhenying WANG, Kanglai HE, Xingfu JIANG, Yunhe LI, Xiangrui LI, Tiantao ZHANG and Bin YANG, gave oral presentations and shared their research achievements and progresses during the conference.

Victor CLOTTEY from CABI’s Ghana Office delivered a keynote presentation on the spread of fall armyworm and currently limited management options in West Africa. It was unanimously agreed by all the delegates to launch a subgroup under IWGO focusing on the fall armyworm in Africa in recognition of its importance, which was similar to the response made to the western corn rootworm invasion in Europe in the 1990s.
In order to follow a longstanding tradition, the Journal of Applied Entomology has again offered the opportunity to publish selected manuscripts presented during the 26th IWGO Conference in a special issue. A printed version will be available in mid-2018 as long as deadlines are met. The 27th IWGO conference will be held in Switzerland and will take place in 2019.

The 26th IWGO were sponsored by Bayer, DuPont Pioneer, Monsanto, Syngenta, DBN Biotech and Longping High-Tech. The conference provided a valuable international platform for the exchange of research, experiences, and ideas on the integrated management of maize insect pests through the use of chemical, cultural, and biological control measures. These exchanges and discussions would make valuable contributions to improve Chinese scientists’ research capacity on maize insect pests, facilitate exchange and cooperation with other countries, safeguard food security and ecological safety and promote sustainable development of China’s agriculture sector.

WANG Zhenying