Meeting 1197 Minutes

Minutes from the 1197th Meeting of the Cambridge Entomological Club

President Avalon Owens called the 1197th meeting of the Cambridge Entomological Club to order at 7:42 pm on Tuesday, May 14th 2019 in MCZ 101.
Approx. 22 members and guests were in attendance.

New business:
Shayla Saltzman gave the annual Treasurer’s report.
The Club spent approx. $2628 and revenue was approx. $827

The 2019-2020 Ent Club officers are:
President – Tianzhu Xiong
Vice President – Sang-Il Kim
Secretary – Andrea Golden
Treasurer – Sofia Prado-Irwin
At Large – Scott Smyers, Jay Shetterly, Edward Pleckavitch

Nominated for membership: Nicole Menllo and Helen McCreery

Scott Smyers and Jay Shetterly reminded members about upcoming field trips.
On July 6, the Great Walden Bioblitz hoped to document 2000 species in one day
Two events were scheduled at Wachusett Mountain: one on May 25, and a Bioblitz featuring Charley Eisenman on Aug. 3.

After an intro by fellow Tufts student and CEC President Avalon Owens, Eric Scott, Ph.D. Candidate at Tufts University, discussed his work in an entertaining talk entitled “Can a leafhopper rescue tea from climate change?”

Agriculture and insect pests have a long and troubled history. Eric Scott presented a positive aspect of insect herbivory–the relationship of Camellia sinensis (tea) and the tea green leafhopper, Empoasca onukii. An increase in secondary metabolites produced by the tea plant in response to herbivory by the leafhopper enhances the flavor of the resulting tea. Farmers in Taiwan began taking advantage of this phenomenon in the 1930’s to produce a high quality tea called “Eastern Beauty Oolong” which can only be made from tea plants infested with the leafhopper damage. Eric is investigating the consequences of varying levels of leafhopper density under controlled conditions using potted tea plants and also in the field. After his talk, Eric treated everyone to a cup of “Eastern Beauty Oolong”.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:47 pm for discussion and refreshments.

Respectfully submitted, Andrea Golden, CEC Secretary