The 1068th meeting of the Cambridge Entomological Club was called to order by Treasurer Kathleen Horton on Tuesday, October 8, 2002 at 7:35 p.m. in room 101 of the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology. 17 members, guests, and visitors signed our attendance book.
Minutes of the 1067th meeting were read but as they were judged to be incomplete they were not approved. They will be reconsidered at the mext meeting.
Under old business, two new members were approved by acclamation. Andrea Sequeira of Harvard University, nominated by Kathleen Horton and Jonathan Rees, is interested in weevils. Fred SaintOurs of U. Mass. Boston, nominated by Heather Hermann and Kathleen Horton, is interested in aquatic insects and invertebrate conservation.
Under new business, Derek Sikes, who is interested in systematics of beetles, was nominated for membership by Piotr Naskrecki and Joe Warfel. Andrea Golden was nominated by Kathleen Horton and Jonathan Rees.
Rob Stevenson brought two nests of wasps identified as Polistes dominulus by Gary Alpert. Joe Warfel showed a photo of an ant-mimicking spider, ______.
Jonathan Rees solicited materials for the web site.
The evening's speaker was Dr. Gary Alpert of Harvard University. Dr. Alpert reported on his study of ants of the genus Metapone in Madagascar and their interactions with termites.
Dr. Alpert has been studying Madagascar ants for twelve years. He started with a "tour" of what it's like to do research in Madagascar, which is a hot spot of biodiversity. There are diverse habitats (desrt, dry forest, moist forest, ...), and heavy deforestation and erosion. The public infrastructure is poor; there is no road or bridge repair. [Skip: The government is strict and bureaucratic regarding collection and export permits, which complicates a scientist's work.]
There are 320 described species of ants in Madagascar, with the total number of species probably around 1000, according to Dr. Alpert.
Dr. Alpert showed a series of images captured using his Nikon field digital camera. (model ____?)
Metapone isn't a ponerine but may have been judged one due to its anatomy: the postpetiole is connected to the gaster.
Metapone is rare everywhere it's found, and has only recently been found in Madagascar.
There are many undescribed species in museum collections.
An extremely unusual aspect of Metapone's biology is the existence of a 2nd male caste. (Bert Holldobler is now investigating this phenomenon.)
The species of Metapone studied [which?] is a specialist predator on termites of the family Cryptotermes. Generally speaking, termite predation comes in several grades of specialization: scout predation; raids with recruitment; ____; ____; and obligate predation on particular termite groups. Metapone falls in this latter category.
Metapone nests in hardwood logs in areas adjacent to termite colonies. Dr. Alpert observed piles of paralyzed termite nymphs in Metapone nests.
[Skip: Being tunnel-dwellers, they walk backwards to return to the nest.]
[Skip: Only 2 out of 9 families of termites are represented in Madagascar.]
After the main presentation, Dr. Alpert announced his work on a catalog of all ant species in digital form, based on Barry Bolton's catalog. He expects to publish it in about 3 months.
The meeting adjourned at 8:40 p.m.
Respecfully submitted,
Jonathan Rees
Executive committee member
Secretary pro tem
10 November 2002
Videotape of 90th Birthday Salute to Frank M. Carpenter
[Minutes were read and approved at 1070th meeting. JAR needs to receive them from Kathy.]
Tuesday, January 14th, 2002, at 7:30 pm in MCZ 202
Can Insects Save Chimpanzees?
A Biotic Rapid Assessment Survey in Guinea
Piotr Naskrecki, Harvard University
32 members and guests were in attendance.
Club Treasurer Kathy Horton read the minutes for the 1069th meeting. Club President Piotr Naskrecki announced the availability of Pheidole of the New World.
Club President Dr. Piotr Naskrecki presented a talk titled "Can Insects Save Chimpanzees? A Biotic Rapid Assessment Survey in Guinea (West Africa)"
Prior to Piotr's talk, photographer Joe Warfel shared pictures of North American and exotic Diptera.
Treasurer Kathy Horton read the minutes for the 1069th meeting, and they were accepted as read.
Piotr spoke of his recent work in association with the Center for Applied Biodiversity Science (CABS), part of Conservation International (CI).
Synopsis: Surveys were carried out on a few sites in Guinea by a group of about 15 scientists, prior to the mining of these areas. These surveys included birds, reptiles and amphibians, mammals (including the endangered Western Chimpanzee) and insects. Although the surveys were conducted during the dry season, much diversity including many endemics and previously unknown species were collected. Endemic diversity and other measures of biodiversity value may be useful in convincing the Guinean Government to set aside the more important areas for conservation. Since the majority of western chimpanzees are found in the Guinean Forest of West Africa, it is critical for the chimps that their habitat be preserved and that hunting pressure be reduced, it is in this way that insects may play an important role in saving the Western Chimpanzee.
Respectfully Submitted,
Christopher Elzinga
Club Secretary
11 February 2003
The minutes for the previous meeting were read and approved. David Lohman nominated for membership.
Club President Piotr Naskrecki then introduced the speaker, David Lohman. Mr. David Lohman is a graduate student in Professor Naomi Pierce's Lab at Harvard University. Mr. Lohman presented a talk on the predaceous Miletinae (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae).
Of the approximately 4000 interactions between Lycaenids and ants, nearly all are mutualistic associations, where the ants provide protection to the developing larva, and gain food secreted by the larva. However, in the Miletinae, many larvae are predaceous on ants. These predaceous larvae live unmolested inside ant nests, and eat developing ant brood. Mr. Lohman collected ant and lycaenid samples in Thailand, and used these to demonstrate through gas chromatography that they are able to escape detection and attack by mimicking the cuticular hydrocarbons of their host ants, so they are perceived by the ants as nest-mates.
After the talk, the meeting was adjourned for refreshments.
Respectfully Submitted,
Christopher Elzinga
Club Secretary
11 March 2003
David Lohman was approved for new membership.
Club Secretary Christopher Elzinga read the minutes for the previous meeting, and they were approved as read.
Bruce Archibald presented research on fossil insects he has collected from Eocene sites in the "Okanagan Highlands" located in NW North America. These fossils are approximately 50 million years old. Among the fossils Mr. Archibald presented were a cerambycid, a Tampanoma ant in amber, Neuropterans, and others. Mr. Archibald's work seeks to explain the anomalous distribution of "warm-loving" insects in northerly climes. Using data from leaf margins and other sources, his work indicates that these areas had a similar mean annual temperature as now, but were exposed to little or no freezing temperatures. This 'equability' may potentially lead to diversity on par with the tropics in these temperate regions in the past.
After the talk, the meeting was adjourned for refreshments.
Respectfully Submitted,
Christopher Elzinga, club secretary
8 April 2003
The following officers were proposed, to be voted on in the next meeting:
| President: | Piotr Naskrecki |
| Vice-President: | Bruce Archibald |
| Secretary: | Christopher Elzinga |
| Treasurer: | Kathy Horton |
| Executive Committee: | Gary Alpert, Jonathan Rees. |
Club Secretary Christopher Elzinga read the minutes for the previous meeting, and they were approved as read.
Club President Piotr Naskrecki then shared some slides from a recent trip to Madagascar. His slides included many beautiful katydids and other insects, as well as geckos and tiny chameleons.
Leeanne Alonso, Ph.d., of Conservation International, presented her talk on Conservation International's Rapid Assessment Program. One reason for doing RAP's, according to Dr. Alonso, is that if we can preserve diversity hotspots, approximately 70% of known land plants and vertebrates can be protected using just ~5% of the Earth's land.
A case in point: a RAP expedition in 1990 led to the creation of the two million hectare Madidi National Park.
Following Dr. Alonso's presentation, the meeting adjourned for refreshments.
Respectfully submitted,
Christopher Elzinga, club secretary
13 May 2003
Christopher Elzinga, secretary, called the meeting to order; Club President Piotr Naskrecki was out of town.
Officers proposed in the previous meeting were voted on as a single slate. The officers were approved, there were no contested positions.
| President: | Piotr Naskrecki |
| Vice-President: | Bruce Archibald |
| Secretary: | Christopher Elzinga |
| Treasurer: | Kathy Horton |
| Executive Committee: | Gary Alpert, Jonathan Rees. |
Edward Plekavich volunteered to serve on the executive committee
Two new nominations (to be voted on in next meeting):
Thomas Spadnano
Dana DiPaolo
The minutes for the previous meeting were read and approved as read. Dr. Gary Alpert then introduced this week's speaker, Dr. Marta Wells.
Dr. Marta Wells, a Researcher and Lecturer at Yale University, gave a talk on mating song in green lacewings (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae). Dr Wells's research on the North American Chrysoperla species addresses questions of how courtship song is involved in speciation in Chrysopids. Topics Dr Wells covered included: Responses of virgin females to males from different populations of the same species, and to closely-related sympatric species. She also demonstrated apparent convergence of song characteristics for species with similar ecologies.
Following Dr Wells's presentation, the meeting was adjourned for refreshments.
Respectfully submitted,
Christopher Elzinga, club secretary
Talk announcement (not part of the minutes):
Tuesday, May 13th, 2003, at 7:30 PM
The Songs of the Lacewings:
Their Role in Species Origins
Dr. Marta Wells
Research Scientist at the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology,
University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, and
Lecturer, the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology,
Yale University, New Haven, CT
Dr. Wells' research interests concentrate on insect communication,
evolution, speciation and systematics. She has worked on a variety of
organisms, including pelicans, fiddler crabs, and sea urchins, but
her most important work has been one on song production, reproductive
isolation and speciation in cryptic species of green lacewings
Last modified: Tue Nov 25 23:00:14 EST 2003