Meeting 1215 Minutes

President Katherine Angier called the 1215th meeting of the Cambridge Entomological Club to order at 7:37pm on Tuesday February 8th 2022. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the meeting was held on Zoom. Approx. 52 members and guests were in attendance.

New business:

Evan Economo and Andrew Davies were nominated for membership.

Katherine announced the March meeting will also be held on Zoom

Old business: None

Our speaker was David Wagner of the University of Connecticut. His talk was entitled “Insect decline in the Anthropocene: Death by a Thousand Cuts.”

Dr. Wagner offered a current assessment of what is known and what is not about insect losses (and gains) across the planet, and the stressors underlying the declines. He described his talk as a who, what, when, where, and why of reported losses.

Dr. Wagner enumerated a number of studies starting in the 1990’s showing overall declines in insect populations. He emphasized the numerous variables to be considered in assessing the declines–threats include habitat loss, agricultural practices, pesticides, draughts related to climate change, and the interrelations of all these factors and more. How data is collected and for how long is also crucial to understanding the declines. Abundant species, not just rare ones, are showing declines and are key to ecological consequences. Along with a decrease in abundance is a decrease in diversity, illustrated by a drought Dr. Wagner observed in Arizona. An extended drought was followed by rainfall that restored the plant community, but the 2021 butterfly count in the area showed a 40% decrease in species richness.

Noting things individuals can do to help, Dr. Wagner mentioned removing invasive plants, planting natives, and becoming active as an educator and/or advocate for insect conservation and minimizing climate change.

For more information, visit https://www.pnas.org/content/118/2/e2023989118

The meeting was adjourned at 9:14 pm.

Respectfully submitted, Andrea Golden, CEC Secretary