Daniel Peterson

Tuesday Dec 13th

07:30 PM

Specialization and trade-offs in plant-feeding insects

MCZ 101, 26 Oxford Street, Harvard University

 

Daniel Peterson

UMass Amherst

 

dec_13Most plant-feeding insects are ecological specialists limited to one or a few closely related host-plant species. This widespread specialization may be favored by natural selection if performance trade-offs limit the use of multiple distinct hosts, but evidence for such trade-offs has been difficult to find. I will discuss a novel approach I have taken to investigate adaptive trade-offs by comparing host-use across insect species. Using data from systematic surveys of armored scale insect (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) host-use in tropical rainforest canopies around the world, as well as digitized museum collections of Hemiptera and Lepidoptera specimens, I will argue that non-adaptive processes may play a bigger role than trade-offs in the long-term evolution of host-use among plant-feeding insects.

The talk is free and open to the public. The meeting is readily accessible via public transportation. Parking is available in the Oxford Street Garage with advance arrangement, as described here, or (usually but not always) at spaces on nearby streets. Everyone is also welcome to join us for dinner before the talk (beginning at 5:45 PM) at the Changsho, 1712 Mass Ave, Cambridge.

CEC meetings are held the second Tuesday of the month from October through May. The evening schedule typically includes an informal dinner (5:45 to 7:15 PM) followed by our formal meeting (7:30 – 9:00 PM). The latter begins with club business and is followed by a 50 minute entomology related presentation. Membership is open to amateur and professional entomologists.

Elizabeth Crone

Tuesday Nov 15th

07:30 PM

Combining models and data to set guidelines for butterfly conservation

MCZ 101, 26 Oxford Street, Harvard University

 

Elizabeth Crone

Tufts University


**We will be meeting on Nov.15th**

nov_15Conservation managers often need to set general guidelines for habitat management and species recovery. Typical metrics for planning include knowing the minimum area needed to support a population and the rate at which a population will expand through heterogeneous landscapes. I will show examples of how we have combined theoretical models with demography and movement data to estimate these metrics for butterfly populations of conservation concern. I will discuss some implications of these case studies for conservation, and also their implications for using insect conservation to build general knowledge of spatial population dynamics.

The talk is free and open to the public. The meeting is readily accessible via public transportation. Parking is available in the Oxford Street Garage with advance arrangement, as described here, or (usually but not always) at spaces on nearby streets. Everyone is also welcome to join us for dinner before the talk (beginning at 5:45 PM) at the Changsho, 1712 Mass Ave, Cambridge.

CEC meetings are held the second Tuesday of the month from October through May. The evening schedule typically includes an informal dinner (5:45 to 7:15 PM) followed by our formal meeting (7:30 – 9:00 PM). The latter begins with club business and is followed by a 50 minute entomology related presentation. Membership is open to amateur and professional entomologists.

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