Meeting 1132 Minutes

Minutes from the 1132nd Meeting of the Cambridge Entomological Club

President David Lubertazzi called the 1132nd meeting of the Cambridge Entomological Club to order at 7:40 pm on Tuesday, February 8th, 2011 at MCZ 101. Approximately 13 members and guests were in attendance.

Old business: Adam South and Nooria Al-Wathiqui were confirmed for membership.

Jess Walden-Gray announced plans for the Club’s participation in the HMNH event “Insect Planet”, scheduled for March 5.

Our February meeting featured a talk by Dr. Sarah Kocher entitled Halictids as a Model of Social Evolution. Sarah is a postdoctoral researcher from Harvard University.

The development of eusociality is considered to be a major transition in evolutionary history. Previous studies on the evolution of social behavior have focused on species that have fixed social structure; however, because these species no longer exhibit variation in sociality, they provide limited models for discovering the factors that led to the evolution of social behavior. Halictid bees, on the other hand, provide an excellent study system. Different populations of a species can exhibit variation in social behavior that ranges from solitary to social. Dr Kocher, who is primarily a geneticist, briefly described her previous research on chemical communication in honeybees before moving on to her current work on Halictids.

Morphologically, halictids don’t show much variation, but they have a huge range of social behaviors. Some are eusocial, others solitary, still other social parasites among other things. Some show a range of behaviors apparently influenced by climate, where the same species might be solitary in a colder climate and social in a warmer climate. Dr. Kocher is currently focusing on the halictid Lasioglossum albipes for her studies of genetic and environmental factors affecting behavior.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 for discussion and refreshments.

Respectfully submitted,

Andrea Golden, CEC Secretary