EVENT CONCLUDED

For the first time in the history of the EURLs, an interdisciplinary training approach for insect identification, bringing together morphologists and molecular biologists, was launched. This joint training on scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha) highlighted the importance of integrating and combining expertise from both disciplines to improve diagnostic quality and accuracy.

Participants received separate training in their respective disciplines (online and practical training). The joint hands-on training was organized a few days before the EURL workshop at AGES. This involved an introduction into key steps in an interdisciplinary diagnostic process, the evaluation and comparison of results generated by each discipline, followed by discussions on their plausibility, taking into account diagnostic uncertainties and relevant metadata. The interactive training was conducted using three Coccomorpha case-study samples that represented different levels of diagnostic uncertainty.Through joint interpretation, plausibility assessments, and final result validation, participants were able to achieve the most reliable diagnoses while reducing uncertainties associated with either discipline when considered independently. In addition, “homework” samples were distributed, enabling trainees to apply this interdisciplinary approach within their respective National Reference Laboratories and further promote collaboration between morphological and molecular diagnostic experts. The training materials are available online on our website.

Please, find all the presentations and recordings of the event HERE