Congratulations to the winners of the 2024 Royal Entomological Society Journal Awards.
Medical and Veterinary Entomology is a Royal Entomological Society journal dedicated to the dissemination of impactful entomological research of medical, veterinary and forensic importance.
This journal highlights transmission dynamics of vector-borne pathogens, arthropod ecology, behaviour and development, and innovative control approaches, emphasizing novel research with original articles, short communications, and reviews, excluding purely descriptive studies.
With a focus on arthropod biology, and interactions with hosts and pathogens, this journal is a valuable platform for advancing medical, veterinary and forensic entomology research.
Medical and Veterinary Entomology Winner
Denise Wawman: Ornithomya biloba, Pseudolynchia garzettae and Pseudolynchia canariensis (Diptera: Hippoboscidae): three new United Kingdom colonists and potential disease vectors (38.2)
This study used data collected by the Mapping the UK’S Flat Fly project that was set up by the author to document the northward shift of three louse fly/flat fly species (Diptera: Hippoboscidae).
“The impact of climate change on species with importance to wildlife is important especially as two of the species prefer bird hosts that are long distance migrants (nightjars, swallows and sand martins) and could import new avian diseases or zoonoses and the third lives in close association with humans (pigeons). The author was personally responsible for the whole project, which is particularly impressive given that they are still a graduate student. We were especially impressed with the authors analysis, presentation and interpretation of the data.”
– Judges’ comments
Denise returned to her childhood interest in Natural History, after ill-health forced early retirement from her medical career. She trained as bird ringer and naturally, for someone with a medical background, recorded the presence of parasites and diseases in the birds she ringed.
Denise noticed that the peak in avian pox in Dunnocks followed the peak in flat/louse flies (Hippoboscidae) but there was nothing published about whether they transmit Avipoxvirus. The species presence and their current UK ranges were also unknown and likely to have shifted due to climate change.
Consequently, in 2020, Denise started the Mapping the UK’s Flat Fly Project and suddenly found herself UK recorder for the Hippoboscidae. In 2021, she started a DPhil at the Edward Grey Institute for Field Ornithology, at the University of Oxford, looking at the changing ecology of louse flies and their role as vectors. She submitted her thesis in March 2025.
Swallow Louse FlyThe ecology of many species is changing in response to climate change. It can be exciting to have new species, like butterflies, that were previously rare, breeding in an area. However, if the new species are parasites, like the louse flies (also known as flat flies) which live on birds and are capable of transmitting diseases, this can be a cause for concern.
UK bird ringers were recruited to catch louse flies that left birds being ringed. Amongst the expected species, there were three species that had previously only been recorded as vagrants: the Swallow Louse Fly, the Nightjar Louse Fly and the Pigeon Louse Fly.
The presence of these flies on migrant birds, which may bring new diseases into the UK, and amongst the large population of feral pigeons in London, may increase the risk to bird and possibly to human health.
