Meeting 1222 Minutes
Minutes from the 1222nd Meeting of the Cambridge Entomological Club
The 1222nd meeting of the Cambridge Entomological Club was called to order by Vice President Katherine Angier at 7:35pm on Tuesday January 10, 2023. Approx. 16 members and guests attended, plus 9 more joined us via Zoom.
New business:
VP Kat Angier announced a volunteer opportunity for CEC members to be held Feb. 11th at the Harvard Natural History Museum.
Scott Smyers announced ongoing planning for the Club’s 150th anniversary in 2024.
Shinichi Nakahara and Bailey Willet were nominated for membership
Old business:
Neil Rosser was approved for membership.
Our speaker was Shinichi Nakahara (MCZ, Harvard) discussing his work in a talk entitled “Names, Concepts, Codes and the Diversity of Neotropical Butterflies.”
Dr. Nakahara began his talk with a defense of taxonomy, sometimes described as “a necessary evil” but as pointed out by E. O. Wilson and others, “the beginning of science is the description and naming of phenomena, the very beginning of everything we do”. He continued with some essential nomenclature and a reference to the website of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN).
Dr. Nakahara followed up with some examples illustrating challenges such as the complications created by the tenfold increase in volume of electronic publication records, and the detective work involved in resolving conflicts in neotropical butterfly nomenclature and taxonomy. He discussed publication priority in the case of a Morpho species, the mysterious origins of Colias ponteni, the value of field notes in identifying a host plant for Papilio flavomarginalis, and ultimately identifying the butterfly formerly known as Papilio marcus as Vetius phyllides.
The meeting was adjourned at approximately 8:40.
Respectfully submitted, Andrea Golden, CEC Secretary
