Meeting 1240 Minutes

Minutes from the 1240th Meeting of the Cambridge Entomological Club

The 1240th meeting of the Cambridge Entomological Club was called to order by President Sarah Dendy at 7:39pm on Tuesday, March 11, 2025. Approx. 9 members and guests attended with 12 additional attendees on Zoom.

New business:
Dues are due
Christopher Sunab was nominated for membership

Old business: Dues are due

We have two new members approved in March, Jansen Hu and Lexie O’Brian

Our speaker was Matt Pelikan, director of Martha’s Vineyard’s Atlas of Life at BiodiversityWorks.

His talk was entitled Beyond Sustainable: Floral Resources for Insects on Martha’s Vineyard Farms

Matt discussed his three-year pilot project that examined the flower-visiting invertebrate community on eight Martha’s Vineyard farms. The project developed methods for plantings aimed at promoting insect diversity, successful farm production, and a positive role for farms in the local ecosystem. The farms ranged from 6 to almost 70 acres, surrounded by differing plant communities. Small plots (approx. 40 sq meters) were planted with nine plants, some attractive to insects generally, or to specific insects. Matt’s presentation summarized the study methods and findings that emerged from the plantings and subsequent monitoring. Using iNaturalist, almost 300 species were recorded from May to October, including bees, flies, butterflies, moths, and wasps.

The meeting was adjourned at approx. 9:00pm

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Respectfully submitted,
Andrea Golden, CEC Secretary