Tuesday, May 13, 2014
7:30 PM
2014 Presidential Address
Weevil Diversity: Beyond the 60,000 Names
MCZ 101, 26 Oxford Street, Harvard University
Bruno de Medeiros
Harvard University
Many people know about horned scarab beetles fighting for females, or insect predators such a praying mantises that can be cannibals. What is less well-known is that similar stories can be found among the seemingly uninsteresting plant-feeding beetles known as weevils. Weevils stand out as a very diverse group in terms of number of species – in fact, they are the most diverse family of animals. However, they are much more than a bunch of names, and weevil natural history can also be very interesting and sometimes even surprising. In this talk Bruno will share some stories that he found while doing research on palm-associated weevils during the last few years, and also the adventures that he went through while chasing them in Brazil.
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 6:00 PM) at Cambridge Common restaurant, on 1667 Massachusetts Ave.
CEC meetings are held the second Tuesday of the month from October through May. The evening schedule typically includes an informal dinner (6:00 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.
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
7:30 PM
American Butterfly Systematists and the Natural History Tradition
MCZ 101, 26 Oxford Street, Harvard University
Prof. William Leach
Columbia University
If we want to understand why Americans started to collect and study butterflies in the 19th century, we must first understand the evolution of natural history itself. Originating in Europe and England, natural history acted as a language of interpretation and as a way of understanding nature that opened it up. It revealed to Americans what butterflies were all about and why they mattered and were worthy of study and reflection. By the 1870s a brilliant group of American butterfly men had emerged, their ideas forged within the heart of this tradition. They made a profound contribution to natural history, bringing to it a radical Darwinian analysis and a passion for life histories perhaps unrivaled by any of their contemporaries. This talk will examine the character of natural history in America between 1865 and 1885 and the way men such as William Henry Edwards, Benjamin Walsh, (former CEC president) Samuel Scudder, Herman Strecker, Augustus Radcliffe Grote, and William Doherty transformed and enriched it.
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 6:00 PM) at Cambridge Common restaurant, on 1667 Massachusetts Ave.
CEC meetings are held the second Tuesday of the month from October through May. The evening schedule typically includes an informal dinner (6:00 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.
Bruno de Medeiros
