March 12 meeting

[Bruno de Medeiros]

To all Cambridge Entomological Club members and entomology enthusiasts,

The next meeting of the CEC will be held on Tuesday March 12 at 07:30 PM in room 101 of the Museum of Comparative Zoology. James Mallet will present a talk entitled "Hybridization and speciation in butterflies of the Amazon rainforest".

It is a seductive idea that species are independent evolutionary units. Natural hybridization is rare in nature on a per-individual basis, but it may affect many species. 

Dr. Mallet will talk about his research on the brightly-colored Heliconius butterflies, which engage in Müllerian mimicry of other species. By using genomic tools, he has shown that genes that determine mimicry have been exchanged repeatedly among closely related species to form new combinations. Through combined effects on mating behavior and signaling to predators, these novel colour patterns are also involved in triggering evolution of new species. His study on those tropical butterflies, therefore, indicates that hybridization may be a important factor shaping evolution of insects and other animals.

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 the Cambridge Commons restaurant. 

Please feel free distribute this announcement to other individuals or groups that you feel would be interested in this talk or in the Cambridge Entomological Club. 

Bruno de Medeiros

CEC Vice-president