Our honorary member, Dr. Horst Bathon, passed away on July 5, 2025, at the age of 82. He was member of the Council from 1997 until 2005 and Convenor of the Publication Commission from 1999 until 2009. He remained closely associated with IOBC-WPRS and was always available to offer advice and support, even long time after his retirement as deputy director of the Institute for Biological Control in Darmstadt (Germany) in 2007.
Dr. Horst Bathon was an outstanding entomologist with an immense knowledge on insects. It was not only curiosity and the passion for scientific research that led him to focus on insect taxonomy, biology, and ecology during his whole professional career. It was also his innermost desire to share this knowledge with his colleagues and anyone else who wished to learn more about insects. His special interest was on non-native insects and other arthropods, fungi or plants that have arrived in Europe and he was often the first one to detect even tiniest exotic beetles on tiny exotic mosses – very often in his own garden. In his effort to expand the knowledge about insects, he published these findings and other results of his research in more than 200 scientific contributions. His scientific achievements and the commitment to establish important networks between entomologists in various entomological national and international societies were recognized with several awards, including the prestigious Karl Escherich Medal in 1999 – the highest award in applied insect science, given by the German Society for General and Applied Entomology (DGaaE).
Due to his dedication to biological control in plant protection, Horst Bathon was always aware of invasive plant pests, but also of the possibility to control them with their natural enemies. With this expertise, he was also one of the first scientists in Europe to develop concepts for risk assessment for the use of invertebrate biological control agents, such as entomopathogenic nematodes and various predatory and parasitoid insects. For instance, he early recognized potential serious non-target effects of especially voracious non-native predators. His thoughtful considerations were confirmed in the case of the Asian ladybird beetle, Harmonia axyridis, after it was accidentally introduced into Germany. However, his intention was never to prevent the biological control using invertebrates, but rather – by carefully balancing risks and benefits – to increase the environmental safety of this approach. In this context, Horst Bathon belonged to the pioneers to develop guidance documents for risk assessment of invertebrate biological control agents in Europe, first in the EU project REBECA and later as one of the founders and members of the Joint EPPO/IOBC Panel on safe use of biological control agents (EPPO Standards PM 6).
Dr. Horst Bathon was highly active in the IOBC-WPRS, particularly as Convenor of the Publication Commission. Under his guidance, more than 100 IOBC-WPRS Bulletins were published. His commitment included not only compiling, revising, and editing all contributions, but also initiating printing of the Bulletins and even their mailing to all IOBC-WPRS members. He developed clear instructions for convenors and authors and created the “green face” of the Bulletins. Not satisfied with this alone and convinced that knowledge exchange and networking are essential to keep an organization unique and vibrant, he also regularly published the “IOBC-WPRS Profile” newsletter to keep all members informed about the latest news in our organization.
The IOBC-WPRS remains deeply grateful to Dr. Horst Bathon for his extraordinary dedication to our organisation. We will always honour his memory. And of course, we will miss his kind and open-minded personality and his invaluable advice for ever.