LUOMUS / Pekka Malinen

Insect-plant relationships: insights into biodiversity and new applications

FlyHigh studied the life cycles of underexplored phytophagous and saprophagous flies aiming to obtaining ecological and evolutionary data. Results will be used to elucidate evolutionary features of fly species and geophyte plants and useful information that could be exploited for mass rearing of insects. Artificial rearing of flies produces beneficial end products, the flies themselves or their larval stages that could be applied for different services as animal feeding, valorisation of agri-food by-products or as bio-agents for e.g. complementary pollination services in natural or greenhouse environments.

The main aim of the FlyHigh project is to facilitate cross-sectorial transfer of knowledge and training of researchers as well as technical staff in bridging the gap between scientific results and their application into novel business ideas and high level research. The exchange programme involves researchers, students, laboratory and technical staff of scientific collections from Finland (University of Helsinki), Spain (University of Alicante, company Bioflytech), Serbia (University of Novi Sad), and South Africa (company Agriprotein).

The project was funded by EU Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions Research and Innovation Staff Exchange Programme, project 645636, and ended in June 2018.

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