Meeting 1129 Minutes

Minutes from the 1129th Meeting of the Cambridge Entomological Club

President David Lubertazzi called the 1129th meeting of the Cambridge Entomological Club to order at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, November 9th, 2010 at MCZ 101. Approximately 35 members and guests were in attendance.

No new business

Old business: Patrick Gorring was approved for membership

Charles Eiseman and Noah Charney presented a talk entitled Insect Signs, featuring observations and photos collected during their two years of research for their exhaustive, 580+ page new book, Tracks and Sign of Insects and Other Invertebrates.

To the casual observer, many of the signs insects leave are either overlooked or, when they are observed, seem difficult to decipher. Charley and Noah, started by sharing some of their observations from a quick survey of the Harvard campus, which turned up 2 sp. of bagworms, several spider sp., and wood stripped from railings by paper wasps as material for their nest.

A partial listing of their observations and anecdotes gathered during their nationwide travels for their book: Leaf cutter bees living in a wall at a Jiffy Lube; various galls made by aphids, midges and wasps; trails of insects and other invertebrates, including grasshopper tracks that resemble the tracks of tiny deer; and many varieties of excrement, often deployed as ingenious defenses.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 for book purchase and signing, discussion and refreshments.

Respectfully submitted,

Andrea Golden, CEC Secretary