Insects Limited at ESA 2025 in Portland
By James Feston, BCE, Director of Research and Development
From November 9–12, entomologists from across the world (myself included) converged on Portland, Oregon for Entomology 2025, the Entomological Society of America’s annual meeting themed “Bridging Generations with Innovation, Legacy, and Passion.” Even against the backdrop of a government shutdown, which unfortunately led to flight delays and a number of cancelled talks from federal researchers, the meeting was still well attended and energy was high. I recently counted and I am up to 10 meetings now over the years and, like always, this ESA was a good mix of familiar faces, new students, industry players, and academic researchers.
The theme for 2025 was “Bridging Generations with Innovation, Legacy, and Passion.” In practice, that meant a wide range of talks and posters, from pesticide applications and innovations, genetic work, taxonomy, and insect–plant ecology. I’m always surprised by how often talks that aren’t directly related to stored product pests still end up sparking useful ideas, or at least shifting how I think about a project. For a small business, being around that density of people and ideas is incredibly valuable.
I spoke in the symposium “Successful Partnerships between Academia, the Research Community, and the Urban Pest Industry.” My talk, “Progress Through Partnership: Innovation and Training Built with Pest Control Professionals”, focused on how Insects Limited develops new tools and training programs based directly on what pest control operators tell us they need in the field. Innovation doesn’t happen in isolation; it comes from listening to people actually doing the work.
I also introduced an early-stage initiative we’re developing with Insects Limited’s Center for Stored Product Protection called (as a working title) “Clothes Moth Academy.” The goal is to build a structured program where pest control professionals can receive focused training on webbing clothes moth management and become certified specialists. Clothes moths are one of the top reasons people contact us. We are always happy to offer guidance and reassurance to customers who are struggling with clothes moths while providing products that can help in their fight, but many of those conversations end with: “Do you know someone local who can help me even further?” Our aim is to build a network of trained clothes moth professionals that our customers can look up by location on our website to assist them in solving their problem.
Overall, the Portland meeting was a productive few days of talks, side conversations, and new ideas. ESA always reinforces how important it is to stay plugged into the broader entomology community. When so many people with so much knowledge and enthusiasm end up in the same place, it becomes easier to turn academic insights into practical tools and solutions that actually help people.
