My local nature club is offering what should be a fascinating talk this Wednesday night, and luckily it's via Zoom, as well as in-person, so you all can attend. Here are the details from the Athol Bird and Nature Club's email newsletter:

Wednesday April 12, 2023, 7:00 PM “The Guests of Ants” Christina L. Kwapich, PhD

This talk will explore the hidden biodiversity inside ant nests, and the behavioral mechanisms diverse parasites employ to infiltrate ant societies. Some intruders tickle ant mouth parts to steal regurgitated meals, while others use specialized organs and glandular secretions to entice ants or calm their aggression. Once able to “speak the language,” these outsiders can masquerade as ants. Suddenly colony members can no longer distinguish friend from foe.

Christina L. Kwapich, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Ecology at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, and the co-author of the book The Guests of Ants: How Myrmecophiles Interact with Their Hosts (2022, Harvard University Press). Her laboratory examines the organization of labor in seed harvesting ant societies, subterranean ant nest architecture, and ant guests. In person at the Millers River Environmental Center, 100 Main Street, Athol, MA 01331, or by Zoom.

Register in advance for this webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Z-Y4dR2sTkS3Ta-8BeGBng After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
.......

I hope to see some of you there! By the way, next month's talk for the Athol Bird and Nature Club is about oak gall wasps, given by Adam Kranz, who is megachile here on iNaturalist. It will also be available on Zoom. I'll post more about that talk in a few weeks.

Posted on April 9, 2023 05:41 PM by lynnharper