Special issue highlighting research presented at the 25th IWGO Conference, Chicago 2014

The two most destructive insect pests of maize in Europe and the USA are the western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera, and the European corn borer Ostrinia nubilalis. In Asia, these are represented by similar species, the two-spotted leaf beetle, Monolepta hieroglyphica, and the Asian corn borer, Ostrinia furnacalis, and there is great concern that D. v. virgifera could be introduced there as well. South America has recently undergone an invasion by the Old World corn earworm, Helicoverpa armigera, adding to a devastating complex of lepidopteran pests of maize such as fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, that are increasingly difficult for farmers to manage. As would be expected for such major pests, a large number of entomologists on several continents conduct applied and basic research on all aspects of their biology, ecology, behaviour, genetics/genomics, toxicology, population monitoring and management tactics. Given the focus of so much effort over vast geographic areas, a concerted effort was made to bring scientists in these groups together to exchange information and ideas. On 13–17 April 2014, the International Working Group on Ostrinia and other Maize Pests (IWGO) convened its 25th conference in Chicago, USA. The IWGO met jointly with the 4th International Conference on Diabrotica Genetics for the third time since 2009, and, for the first time, with the U.S. North Central Corn Entomologist Technical Committees NC205 (Ecology and Management of European Corn Borer and Other Lepidopteran Pests of Corn) and NCCC46 (Development, Optimization and Delivery of Management Strategies for Corn Rootworms). Thus, the 25th IWGO Conference concentrated many of the scientists in the world who conduct research on rootworms, corn borers and related pests of maize into a single room for 4 days to exchange knowledge, ideas, questions and advice. IWGO is a well-established, large Working Group of the International Organization of Biological Control (IOBC-Global), which deals with integrated pest management (IPM) options for all maize insect pests and pest resistance problems. The group is open to all scientists who are interested in working within an international organization dedicated to issues and activities related to maize pests. IWGO Conferences always include information exchange on basic and applied knowledge of ecology, behaviour, genetics and genomics, sampling techniques, rearing, economic threshold development and IPM of maize pests. Advances in these areas are for the most part directly transferrable between continents. Likewise, the conference promotes accelerating development and sharing of methodological tools such as genetic markers, semiochemical baits and biocontrol agents, while avoiding needless overlap of efforts. Strategic benefits include generating ideas for new research directions, more effective methodologies and novel analytical techniques. Opportunities to coordinate similar or parallel research initiatives are made evident, while new collaborations on more ambitious projects are often initiated by leveraging the complementary strengths of European, Asian and American scientists. The Chicago meeting was attended by 104 participants from 15 countries. An impressive number of 60 professional oral presentations were given during the 12 scientific sessions resulting in a packed but exciting programme. Sessions were designed to address the most interesting and relevant research topics in the field of maize insect pests that have current and broad international application and appeal. The oral sessions were complimented by 21 poster presentations reflecting additional new information related to the conference subject matter. A large number of diverse topics covered at the IWGO meeting in Chicago included the following: • RNAi as a pest management tool, organized by William Moar, Monsanto, St. Louis, Missouri, USA; • Transcriptomics and genomics of Diabrotica, organized by Thomas Guillemaud, INRA, Sophia Antipolis, France & Tom Sappington, USDA-ARS, Ames, Iowa, USA; • Western corn rootworm adaptation, organized by Blair Siegfried, University of Nebraska, Lincoln,