Meeting 2011 Minutes

President  Katherine Angier called the 1211th meeting of the Cambridge Entomological Club to order at 7:38 pm on Tuesday October 12th 2021.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the meeting was held on Zoom. Approx. 35 members and guests were in attendance.

New business: None

Old business: Jessie Thuma and Sylvana Finn were approved for membership

Our speaker was Dr. Geoff Attardo, Assistant Professor in the Department of Entomology and Nematology at UC Davis. His talk was entitled Got Milk? Exploring the Morphological, Biochemical and Genetic Modifications Underlying the Unique Life History of a Neglected Disease Vector

Dr. Attardo began with an overview of the Tsetse fly (Glossina sp.) its African habitats and impact as a disease vector. Tsetse flies differ from most flies in feeding exclusively on vertebrate blood, and producing just one larva at a time (known as obligate viviparity) that are nourished by “milk” in utero.

Dr. Attardo described his investigations into the genetics and biochemical adaptations that enable Tsetse flies to sustain their unusual life cycle. His talk featured amazingly detailed MicroCT imagery elucidating the physiological changes the female fly undergoes at various stages in the mating and reproductive cycles. He also described the components in the “milk” of the Tsetse fly in contrast to mammalian milk, and the essential role of the symbiotic bacteria Wigglesworthia in providing crucial nutrients not available in the flies’ blood diet. In response to a question about the evolutionary pressure that may have led to the unique reproductive strategy of tsetse flies, Dr. Attardo suggested that it may have been a strategy to avoid predation by parasitoids. To date, no one has tasted Tsetse fly milk.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:27.

Respectfully submitted, Andrea Golden, CEC Secretary