Meeting 1189 Minutes

Minutes from the 1189th Meeting of the Cambridge Entomological Club

President Zhengyang Wang called the 1189th meeting of the Cambridge Entomological Club to order at 7:35 pm on Tuesday, May 8th 2018 in MCZ 101.
Approx. 50 members and guests were in attendance.

New business:
Shayla gave the annual treasurer’s report.
Scott Smyers announced outings to Wachusett Mtn. on May 19 and July 21, and a trip to Hogback Mtn. VT on August 4.

Old business:
The slate of officers for 2018-2019 was confirmed:
President – Avalon Owens
Vice President – Tianzhu Xiong
Secretary – Andrea Golden
Treasurer – Shayla Salzman
At Large – Scott Smyers, Jay Shetterly, Edward Pleckavitch

After an introduction from President Yang and MCZ curator and former student Stefan Cover, Professor Douglas Futuyma, Department of Ecology and Evolution at Stony Brook presented a talk entitled Herbivorous Insects: Studies in the Evolution of Diversity.

Questions about coevolution, ecological specialization, speciation, evolutionary rates, and diversity are exemplified by herbivorous insects, which together with their host plants account for nearly half the described species of living organisms. Professor Futuyma discussed host specificity, plant/insect dietary associations and reciprocal evolution over long periods (65 mya) of time. He recounted highlights of field and laboratory studies that he and his students have pursued, and offered some tentative answers to based on those studies.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:05 pm for discussion and refreshments.

Respectfully submitted, Andrea Golden, CEC Secretary