Meeting 1198 Minutes

Minutes from the 1198th Meeting of the Cambridge Entomological Club

President Tianzhu Xiong called the 1198th meeting of the Cambridge Entomological Club to order at 7:44 pm on Tuesday, October 8th 2019 in MCZ 101.

Approx. 35 members and guests were in attendance.

New business: Tianzhu reminded members about dues, $5 dollars for students and $25 for nonstudents

Our speaker was Charley Eiseman, freelance naturalist and author, who presented a richly illustrated talk entitled Life in a Leaf: The wonderful world of leafminers

Charley began his talk with a photo of a single oak leaf containing the mines of 3 different genera of moths. Over 2000 species of leafminers, including moths, flies, beetles, and sawflies are found in North America. Leafminers are usually host-specific, and their mines often take the form of distinctive tracks or blotches making it possible to identify the responsible insect using only the hostplant and mine characteristics.

Charley discussed the major groups of leafminers: beetles, including chrysomelids, weevils and buprestids; flies, (agromyzids and others); and many tiny, beautiful moths. He also described some of the parasitoids and predators he discovered in the course of rearing his leafminer menageries.

After eight years of research, traveling, and collecting and rearing thousands of leafminers, Charley has completed a nearly 1900 page ebook to the North American species, Leafminers of North America. It includes an overview, glossary, checklists and keys to the mines found on each plant genus, and is available at his website, charleyeiseman.com.

Respectfully submitted, Andrea Golden, CEC Secretary

The meeting was adjourned at 9:15 pm for discussion and refreshments.