Archived Past Meetings

December 15, 2021 • Wednesday, 4pm • American Entomological Society Webinar

Mortal combat between ants and caterpillars: an ominous threat to the endangered Schaus’ swallowtail butterfly in the Florida Keys, USA

The federally endangered Schaus’ swallowtail butterfly (Heraclides aristodemus ponceanus) inhabits subtropical dry forest in the northern Florida Keys. Historically, habitat loss and (potentially) mosquito control have contributed to population declines; however, not much is known about the impacts of invertebrate predators, particularly non-native ants. Ant surveys and predator exclusion manipulations were conducted to assess which ant species foraged on the host plants and which type of threat (aerial or crawling) was the most prevalent to the immature stages of H. a. ponceanus. An “ant danger index” was designed to rank the predatory abilities of the four most common ant species collected on the host plants. The winning (potential) ant threat will be revealed in the upcoming presentation.

Dr. Jaeson Clayborn

Assistant Professor of Biology, Miami Dade College Padrón Campus

http://www.jaesonclayborn.com/

November 17, 2021 • Wednesday, 4pm •

Virtual American Entomological Society Meeting

Entomologist Mary Treat (1830-1923)

Mary Treat: Entomologist Extraordinaire

Writer Deborah Boerner Ein offers a sneak peek at her Mary Treat biography, Dear Mrs. Treat: Life and Letters of a 19th Century Scientist, with a special emphasis on Treat’s entomological research and writings. Mary Treat corresponded with Charles Darwin as they both studied insectivorous plants, but her correspondence with entomologists—Benjamin D. Walsh, Charles V. Riley, Auguste Forel, Henry McCook, and others—gives us a broader, more accurate view of Mary Treat’s life and work in the natural sciences.

Ant specimens named in honor of Mary Treat

November 17 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm EST (USA)

Zoom link will be emailed to members.

Meetings are free and open to the public.

 

October 27, 2021 • Wednesday, 4pm •
Virtual American Entomological Society Meeting

Dr. Michelle Duennes, Assistant Professor of Biology, St. Vincent College

https://maduennes.wordpress.com/

Using molecular tools to understand how environmental stressors impact bumble bees

Poor nutrition due to a lack of floral resources, pesticide exposure, and climate change all have direct effects on the health, stability, and fitness of bumble bees. This talk will discuss how Dr. Michelle Duennes and colleagues have used and are using -omics approaches to understand how these factors work individually and synergistically to affect bumble bee health at the individual level via laboratory manipulations and at the population level through wild bumble bees in the Sierra Nevada.

June 23, 2021 • Wednesday, 4pm •
Virtual American Entomological Society Seminar

Dr. Kathryn Weglarz, Assistant Professor of Biology, Westfield State University, Westfield, Massachusetts

Using Existing Entomological Data to Improve Conservation Efforts and Undergraduate Education

Guest lecture by Dr. Kathryn Weglarz:

https://www.westfield.ma.edu/academics/biology-department/kathryn-weglarz

May 26, 2021 • Wednesday, 4pm •
Virtual American Entomological Society Seminar

Dr. Jessica L. Ware, Associate Curator of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History

Dragonfly, Damselfly and Dictyopteran Evolutionary History

Dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata) are charismatic freshwater insects, but their systematics have been difficult to resolve using traditional molecular methods. The results of new genomic level phylogenetic work has influenced our understanding of the evolution of reproductive strategies in this group. Termite diet driven diversification will be reviewed briefly.

 

Collecting in Guyana

April 28, 2021 • Wednesday, 4pm
Virtual American Entomological Society Meeting

Sujaya Rao, Ph.D., Entomology Department, University of Minnesota

Edible Insects: Western Taboo Food or Healthy, Eco-friendly Diet of the Future?

Worldwide, many cultures embrace entomophagy, the eating of insects. Grasshoppers, mealworms, giant water bugs, and many other insects are eaten out of choice, not as famine food in times of scarcity.  So, why haven’t western societies embraced entomophagy? And why should they? Sujaya Rao will share her perspectives, and leave you with ‘food for thought’, in lieu of food with bugs!

https://www.entomology.umn.edu/faculty-staff/sujaya-rao

We  will also Present the Calvert Awards for the best entomological science projects in the Philadelphia region – junior and high school students

students and coworkers

March 24, 2021 • Wednesday, 4pm

Virtual American Entomological Society Meeting

Vaughn Shirey, PhD Student, The Ries Lab of Butterfly Informatics, Georgetown University, Department of Biology, Washington, D.C

Detecting Climate-Driven Macroscale Changes in Boreal and Tundra Butterfly Communities

Earth’s boreal and tundra regions are facing some of the most extreme climatic changes on the planet, yet our knowledge of insect biodiversity in this region is sparse. Here I use museum and community science observations to assess how threatened butterfly communities are responding to climate change within western subpolar North America over the past 5 decades.

Tundra Butterfly

February 23, 2021, Wednesday, 4pm

Virtual American Entomological Society Meeting

Karen Poh, Penn State University, Postdoctoral Scholar

Parasite Hunters: Engaging the Hunting Community to Uncover the Status of Ticks, Deer Keds, and their Pathogens

The speaker, Karen Poh, Penn State University, Postdoctoral Scholar, will discuss the Parasite Hunter project, a community science project involving hunters to collect ticks and deer keds from hunter-harvested deer. The goal of this research is to protect hunters and other outdoor enthusiasts from vector-borne diseases by determining the distribution of ticks and deer keds on white-tailed deer, identifying the pathogens they may carry, and highlighting the tactics people take to prevent vector-borne diseases while outdoors.

 

Deer Tick and Ked

December 2, 2020, Wednesday, 4pm

Virtual American Entomological Society Meeting

Finding Our Way to Greener Pastures:
Successes and Challenges of Regal Fritillary Butterfly Conservation, Grassland Management, and Reintroductions

The speakers, Erika McKinney and Virginia Tilden will discuss the ongoing efforts in the conservation of the Regal Fritillary Butterfly in eastern North America, including reintroduction efforts.

 

Speyeria idalia

October 28, 2020, Wednesday, 4pm •
Virtual American Entomological Society Meeting

Kelsey Fisher

Investigating Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) Movement Ecology to Inform Conservation Strategies

Kelsey E. Fisher,
Iowa State University
Department of Entomology – Ph.D. Candidate
Center for Communication Excellence (CCE) – Interdisciplinary Writing Consultant

View her paper here:
Employing Very High Frequency (VHF) Radio Telemetry to Recreate Monarch Butterfly Flight Paths

Monarch butterfly with a 220 mg LB-2X radio telemetry transmitter

February 26, 2020, Wednesday, 7 pm •

American Entomological Society Meeting

A Manatawny Creek stonefly nymph in the family Perlidae, 2018.

Stream Restoration in the Delaware Basin:
Insects as Bioindicators

Stefanie A. Kroll, Ph.D., Watershed Ecology Section Leader
Delaware River Watershed Initiative
Patrick Center for Environmental Research
Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
Assistant Research Professor
Department of Biodiversity, Earth and Environmental Science
Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University

Come be social with us...

Join us at our virtual and in-person meetings! Become an AES member. Additional perks include digital access to the two most recent issues of Transactions of the AES and Entomological News.

X

Forgot Password?

Join Us