May’s meeting of the Cambridge Entomological Club will be held Tuesday May 12th at 7:30 PM in room 101 of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Oxford Street, Cambridge. John Boyle of Harvard University and President of Cambridge Entomological Club will be presenting the 2015 Presidential Address and telling us about Ant Plant Mutualisms. Please note this is the last meeting until October.
Mutualistic symbioses between ants and plants are a common feature of the tropics. Hundreds of different plants throughout the world have evolved cavities in which ant colonies can live, and even special organs that provide food for the ants. In return, the ants protect their trees against the encroachment of other plants and against herbivores–even herbivores as large as giraffe and elephant!
In John’s talk for the CEC, he will present some of the diversity of ant-plant mutualisms, and also discuss his own research into one particular ant-plant, the whistling-thorn acacia, Vachellia drepanolobium. This ant-plant is unusual in that four different ant species compete for space on the tree, and all four ant species appear to cheat on the tree in different ways: some prune off its flowers, others tend sap-sucking scale insects, and so on. He will discuss his research on the colony-level underpinnings of this wide diversity in ant behavior.The meeting is free and open to the public. Snacks will be provided and you are also welcome to join us at 6:00 pm for an informal pre-meeting dinner at Cambridge Common. Image from www.baraza.wildlifedirect.org.
