Meeting 1194 minutes

Minutes from the 1194th Meeting of the Cambridge Entomological Club

President Avalon Owens called the 1194th meeting of the Cambridge Entomological Club to order at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, February 12th 2019 in MCZ 101. Approx. 36 members and guests were in attendance.

New business:
Two people were nominated for membership
Samuel Church and Crystal Maier
Rachel Bonoan was confirmed for membership

The Caterpillar Lab in NH is seeking an educator to join its staff. Applicants should contact the Caterpillar Lab.

Professor Daniel Kronauer of Rockefeller University presented a talk entitled Army ants in an ecological network.
Army ants are keystone species in tropical ecosystems. As top arthropod predators, they can consume up to 30K prey items per day, mostly other ants and their brood. Some animals benefit from the ants’ presence, such as the ocellated ant bird, which relies on the leftovers from ant raids to provide them with food. Following an introduction to the nomadic lifestyle of army ants with a particular focus on Eciton burchellii, Professor Kronauer discussed a variety of myrmecophiles and the strategies they use to infiltrate and exploit ant colonies. He described how systematic sampling and DNA barcoding has revealed 61 social parasites so far, including 46 beetles (one is a hister beetle named for Professor Kronauer, Nymphister kronaueri) and 13 phorid flies. Of these, some are generalists and others specialists on particular ant species. He also touched on colony transport, reproductive cycles, and spatial and temporal aspects of raid behaviors.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 pm for discussion and refreshments.

Respectfully submitted, Andrea Golden, CEC Secretary