Annual meetings have long been part of RES history and tradition. Records from the RES Library and Archives show that 1997 was the first time the annual meetings were both officially and colloquially referred to as ‘Ento-‘ or ‘Entomology-‘ followed by the year of the conference, but there were many Symposiums held on the years prior.
Now, we have our flagship annual conference, Ento, for the joy of bringing together scientists and enthusiasts from around the world to showcase some of the fantastic research going into the study of insects, and we hold our AGM in the heart of the conference.
Ento1997 – University of Newcastle
Esteemed members of the Society enjoying a country ramble
The Symposium discussion continues over lunch
Written in the January 1998 edition of Antenna, Volume 22 (1), appears to be the first mention of the Royal Entomological Society’s annual meeting with the title ‘Entomology ’97‘ in its contents. The articles written by Joe Perry of IACR-Rothamstead and Iain Fisher of ITE-Banchory sums up the conference as a ‘mixture of nostalgia for their undergraduate city and expectation akin to the BES Winter Meeting’, the combination of Symposium and general meeting offering a good mix of depth and breadth. Talks of note included Jeremy Thomas’ detailed life-styles of Maculinea (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) and associated Myrmica species, Peter Price’s work with Eurra lasiolepis (Hymenoptera: Tenthredinidae), Ilkka Hanski’s research on Glanville fritillaries and Peter Rothery’s reminder of the statistical pitfalls associated with detecting density-dependence to name a few. An overall worthwhile event to have attended, as noted by the authors of the article.
Antenna mention: Antenna Volume 42 (1) 2018, 20 years ahead of the first Ento at this venue. The President in 2018 commented that there was a certain symmetry as Dr Gordon Port had convened the first Ento’ 97 meeting in Newcastle 20 years previously.
The man who made it all happen – Gordon Port at the reception desk
Peter Price (left) with Bill Murdoch (right)
Ento1998 – Exeter University
January 1999’s Volume 23 (1) of the Antenna Bulletin shares two personal views of ‘Entomology ’98’, the writer of the first article Tanja Schuler reflecting on the steep and hilly path to Exeter University. Simon Leather and Iain Stewart chaired the first afternoon sessions and papers ranged from tree-feeding insects to mimicry and insect/plant interactions. The smaller meeting (around 90 delegates, 38 talks and around 15 posters) and single parallel session made the atmosphere calm, friendly and inviting, encouraging discussion, debate and networking. The high standard of most post-graduate papers was impressive and a post-graduate view confirmed a preference to single parallel session, removing the difficult decisions of missing talks and stressfully moving to another area between talks and allowing for the exposure to areas of science that would not have otherwise come their way, creating a cross-pollination ground for ideas, techniques and technologies.
Ento1999 – Imperial College, University of London
January 2000 Volume 24 (1). “This year the meeting took place on a single day which created a lot of movement. Talks from the first female speakers, Jane Hill and Camile Parmesan, gave female postgraduates hope for the future that women can do well in the sciences they choose. A superb event for postgrads and an opportunity to unburden the traumas of field experiments, perished cultures and general frustrations with others at the same career stage”, says article author Tilly Collins.
Ento2000 – Liverpool Hope University College
Ento01 – University of Aberdeen
Ento02 – University of Cardiff
Ento03 – Reading University
Ento04 – University of York
Ento05 – Sussex University
Ento06 – Bath University
Ento07 – Edinburgh University
Ento08 – Plymouth University
Ento09 – Sheffield University
Ento10 – Swansea University
Ento11 – Greenwich University – 7-9 September 2011.
Antenna mention: Antenna Volume 35 (1) 2011
International Symposium on Chemical Ecology “Reception, Detection and Deception” and National Meeting, held at the Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, Medway Campus, Chatham Maritime, Kent.
Ento12 – Anglia Ruskin University – 18-20 July 2012.
Antenna mention: Antenna Volume 36 (1) 2012
The theme of this meeting was “Insects in a Human Dominated World”. Within the conference were two sessions entitled Fifty Years Since Silent Spring, focusing on the 50th anniversary of Rachel Carson’s famous book, and a memorial lecture in honour of Mike Majerus, given by Helen Roy.
Ento13 – St Andrews University – 4-6 September 2013.
Antenna mention: Antenna Volume 37 (1) 2013 and Volume 38 (1) 2014
The Evolution of Insect Mating System: 30 Years of Thornhill and Alcock. Venue: University of St. Andrews.
Photo to the right, as taken during Ento13 – Book of Obligations page bearing Princess Victoria’s signature, illustrated by J. O. Westwood.
Ento14 – ECE York – 2-8 August 2014. European Congress of Entomology, venue: University of York, Heslington, York.
Antenna mention: Antenna Volume 37 (1) 2013
Ento15 – Trinity College Dublin – 2-4 September 2015.
Antenna mention: Antenna Volume 37 (1) 2013, Volume 38 (1) 2014, Volume 39 (1) 2015 and Volume 40 (1) 2016
Insect Ecosystem Services – The Honorary Secretary gave a verbal report on Ento’15, which had been held in Dublin in September 2015. Dr Murchie felt that the meeting had been a success with a diverse range of high quality talks and poster presentations. The availability of the plenary talks as open access papers in Ecological Entomology was an added bonus.
“Without a doubt attending Ento’15 has re-invigorated our passion and energy for entomology, and has armed us with a new set of information, new friends and colleagues, rekindled friendships, and new ideas to go once more unto the breach!” – Eugenie Regan
Photo of the group at Ento15 – From left to right:
Prof Walter Leal FRES (ICE Co-chair); Prof Grayson Brown (ESA / Former President ESA); C. David Gammel (Executive Director ESA); Dr Archie Murchie FRES (Honorary Secretary RES); Prof Alvin Simmons (ICE Co-Chair); Dr Luke Tilley (Director of Outreach & Development RES); Prof Phil Mulder (ESA President); Bill Blakemore (Registrar & CEO RES); Prof John Pickett FRES CBE FRS (RES President); Prof Lin Field FRES (RES Editorial Officer / Former President RES); Prof Frank Zalom (ESA / Former President ESA); Prof Hugh Loxdale FRES MBE (RES Treasurer / Former President RES).
Ento16 – Harper Adams – 5-8 September 2016.
Antenna mention: Antenna Volume 38 (1) 2014, Volume 39 (1) 2015 and Volume 41 (1) 2017
One hundred and twenty delegates attended the three-day meeting. The meeting had been well-received by all who attended and, on behalf of Council, Dr Murchie expressed thanks to the convenors. He particularly noted the end-session on outreach that had some innovative elements, including a reading from ‘Beetle Boy’, an insect-centred novel, and a presentation by Ms Jess French, presenter of ‘Minibeast Adventure with Jess’ on the CBeebies channel.
Ento17 – Newcastle University – 12-14 September 2017
Ento18 – Edge Hill University, Ormskirk – 19-31 August 2018. Antenna mention: Antenna Volume 42 (1) 2018 and Volume 43 (1) 2019
“The good, the bad and the ugly – exploring the importance of lesser studied insects”.
The conference was a great success with 110 delegates from the UK, Ireland, mainland Europe, USA, Pakistan, South Africa and Nigeria. The presenters represented universities, NGOs and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Conference sessions were themed around the Society’s journals and Forest Insects and their allies were well represented, with a session dedicated to Agricultural and Forest Entomology chaired by David Williams of Forest Research.
Antenna Volume 43 (1) 2019 notes Ms Whiteford, Registrar, gave a report on Ento’18 which was held at Edge Hill University in Ormskirk, with c. 100 delegates attending per day.
Ento19 – London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) – 20-22 August 2019
Ento19 teams hard at work during the pub quiz
Antenna mention: Antenna Volume 44 (1) 2020
Ento ’19: Vectors of Diseases meeting coincided with LSHTM celebrating its 120th anniversary of innovative scientific research in global and public health. We were particularly delighted that the 163 delegates who registered, an average of 150 attending for each of the three days, represented international entomologists from five continents: N. America (several US institutes, including Puerto Rico), S. America (Brazil, Chile), Asia (Bangladesh, India, Japan, Korea), Africa (Burkino Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania), Europe (France, Greece, Netherlands, Switzerland) and Australia.
Nationally, delegates came from more than 25 academic institutes across England, N. Ireland, Scotland and Wales
Attendees at the “What works for networks?” workshop. Photo courtesy of Frederik Seelig, LSHTM
Ento20 – (Exeter) – rescheduled due to Covid19 restrictions
Unfortunately Ento20 did not exist due to the worldwide pandemic. Due to be hosted in Exeter, the venue was chosen to host Ento23 instead.
Ento21 – Held Online due to Covid19 restrictions
We were fortunately able to meet up again with our Members and Fellows via technology in 2021 as Ento21 was held over Zoom.
Read more about Ento21.
Ento22 – University of Lincoln
Ento23 – Exeter University
Revisit the most recent Ento conferences:
