Meeting 1186 Minutes
Minutes from the 1186th Meeting of the Cambridge Entomological Club
President Zhengyang Wang called the 1186th meeting of the Cambridge Entomological Club to order at 7:32 pm on Tuesday, January 9th 2018 in MCZ 101.
Approx. 40 members and guests were in attendance.
New business:
Three new nominations to be confirmed for membership
Emily Alderton
Kyle Cormier
Evan Hoki
Old business:
Shoyo Sato confirmed for membership
Scott Smyers announced July 21st 2018 as the date for the Mt. Wachuset bioblitz. Ent Club members are encouraged to sign up.
Dr. Vince Formica of Swarthmore College presented a talk on the social interactions and networks of a fungus beetle.
How do complex social behaviors evolve in nature? Social network analysis allows us to quantify the behavior of animals at the individual and the emergent, group level.
Dr. Formica discussed his work on the evolution of social networks in the forked fungus beetle (Bolitotherus cornutus). Fungus beetles, found in eastern North American forests, live on decaying logs and exhibit observable social interactions, such as courtship dances and male combat.
Vince and his team of undergraduate students track populations of forked fungus beetles, mark and release hundreds of individuals, and record and map tens of thousands of interactions each year. Combinations of traits such as beetle horns and social network positions were examined. He discussed the dynamics of sexual selection and individual position in social networks, noting that differences can exist among populations that are only a few meters from each other. Attempts at raising the beetles in lab conditions have been unsuccessful, resulting in curiously miniaturized individuals.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:50pm for discussion and refreshments.
Respectfully submitted,
Andrea Golden, CEC Secretary
