Meeting 1143 Minutes

Minutes from the 1143rd Meeting of the Cambridge Entomological Club

President Jess Walden-Gray called the 1143rd meeting of the Cambridge Entomological Club to order at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, May 8, 2012 in MCZ 101. Approximately 15 members and guests were in attendance.

Old business: Emily Newman was confirmed for membership.

New business: Nomination and election of CEC officers for 2012-2013 year:

President:  Patrick Gorring

Vice President:  Bruno de Medeiros

Treasurer:  Jonathan Rees

Secretary:  Andrea Golden

Executive Committee:  Edward Pleckavich, Dorothy Barr

Jonathan Rees distributed copies of the financial report for the 2011-2012 year.

Jack Boyle was nominated for membership.

Our speaker was CEC President and BU graduate student Jess Walden-Gray. Her talk was entitled Bats vs. Moths: An Evolutionary Arms Race.

Jess started with an overview of bats: numbers of species, a mention of white nose syndrome, and a pictorial survey of bats found in New England. For bats, echolocation is key to finding food. For moths, hearing is crucial to avoid predation. Moths have adapted ears and ultrasonic cries to avoid bats. Some moths utilize “jamming sonar”, making it harder for the bat to locate the moth. Jess described her preliminary work at Archbold Station in Florida with the spotted oleander moth, Syntomeida epilais. This moth has adapted some of its defensive ultrasonic capabilities for detecting and generating sound for courtship. Jess moved to Wake Forest University in June to continue her graduate work.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:40 for discussion and refreshments.

Respectfully submitted,

Andrea Golden, CEC Secretary