Meeting 1237 Minutes
The 1237th meeting of the Cambridge Entomological Club was called to order by President Sarah Dendy at 7:47pm on Tuesday, December 10, 2024. 20 members and guests attended with additional attendees on Zoom.
New business: Dues are due
Kiley Finnegan was approved for membership
Sarah mentioned an effort by Popenoe Entomological Club at Kansas State University to restore a collection of entomologically-related paintings by 19th century entomologist Charles Valentine Riley.
Links to informational video, history and a gallery of these works can be found here: https://popenoe.org/cvriley
Old business: Scott Smyers offered a summary of last summers’ Mt. Washington trips, in celebration of the clubs’ 150th anniversary.
Our speaker was Dr. Avalon Owens, Rowland Institute Fellow and former CEC President. Her talk was entitled “What light pollution means for insect conservation”.
Artificial lights, particularly LEDs, render the night sky on average twice as bright today as it was a decade ago. Avalon explored the ecological costs and evolutionary consequences of this transformation. First, with a study of moth flight-to-light behavior using Helicoverpa zea, the corn earworm. A comparison of traps utilizing pheromones vs. blacklight over 24 years showed a steep decline in abundance for the blacklight traps while the pheromone numbers remained stable. Avalon also conducted studies in rural areas of Massachusetts and Maine to explore how varying levels of darkness affected moth’s behavior.
Firefly courtship depends on the sexes being able to find each other through their system of flashes. Artificial light complicates this process, making it harder to stand out against background light. Red light has been found to least obtrusive, while amber light is worst. Avalon concluded with a set of recommendations for reducing the impact of artificial light on insects.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:17
Respectfully submitted,
Andrea Golden, CEC Secretary
