An important collection of aculeate wasps and bees at risk – a cry for support

Note: The following article by Friedrich Gess and Sarah Gess was slated to be published in the latest issue of Hamuli. The editor regrets the omission.

The Albany Museum, Grahamstown, holds “the most important collection of southern African aculeate wasps” (James Carpenter in letter 16 July 2010) and the collection of bees which offers “the most important and extensive data resource on flower visitation by southern African bees” (Michael Kuhlmann and Connal Eardley, 2012, in Evolution of Plant-Pollinator Relationships edited by Sébastien Patiny).

Many of you, members of the International Society of Hymenopterists, have borrowed specimens from the collection for taxonomic studies and as a result have type specimens housed in this collection.

The collection was built up over the past 44 years under the curatorship of Friedrich Gess largely through research undertaken by himself and Sarah Gess on aculeate wasps and bees in the semi-arid to arid areas of southern Africa. Major contributions were also made by Charles Jacot Guillarmod who, as Director of the Albany Museum, determined with Friedrich Gess that the specialisation of entomology at the Albany Museum should be aculeate wasps (bees being included as specialised wasps!) and Alan Weaving as Assistant Curator (1981-1996).

Since the retirement, at the mandatory age of 65, of Friedrich Gess (now Curator Emeritus and Contract Researcher) and Sarah Gess (now Contract Researcher) in 2001 and 2003 respectively there has been only one entomologist, a Dipterist, employed in the Department of Entomology and Arachnology on a three year contract (2005-2008). The department has been kept alive and running by the voluntary unpaid efforts of Friedrich and Sarah as official Acting HODs.

The only permanently employed staff member is an Auxilliary Services Officer working as a laboratory assistant trained in house by the Gesses to undertake such jobs as replacing fumigant (camphor blocks) in insect drawers, topping up of alcohol in the wet collection and constructing unit trays.

The only other person working in the department is a data capture assistant employed by Sarah Gess on outside funding.

The two entomologists posts are currently frozen as are all vacant posts in the Eastern Cape Museums which all, regardless of whether they are history/cultural history or natural history museums, fall under the Department of Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture of the Eastern Cape Government!

All natural history collections in South Africa were audited by a team from NRF/SANBI (National Research Foundation/South African Biodiversity Institute) more than two years ago. The report was submitted to NRF but has not yet been released awaiting a reaction from the national Department of Arts and Culture under whom all the South African museums fall. Formerly the museums fell under the Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology but this department was split into two departments DAC and DST. DST has also received the report but there has to date been no comment.

In order to give the collections of wasps and bees in the Albany Museum some support for at least the next three years Sarah Gess put together a proposal to JRS Biodiversity Foundation which included a salary for a well qualified collections manager, a compactor and extra insect cabinets (floor space and cabinet space having been filled). The proposal, one of 408 considered by JRS, reached the final with 30 others. Hopes were high but were then dashed. An award was not made largely due to the fact that although there is an excellent foundation for the bridge on this side of the river the distance to the other bank and the nature of the other bank is not known.

What can be done?

School of Ants Essay Contest

(A message from ISH member Andrea Lucky)

People are hungry to know more about ants, how they live, where they live, what they are doing in your kitchen and in your garden. Who better to explain what these amazing ants are up to than you, the scientist studying them? So go ahead and tell us (and the world) about the coolest thing you've seen, read or studied about ants, and while you’re at it, tell us about you and why you do what you do. Write this essay for the childhood version of you, so that another generation of kids will be inspired to look closely at ants, to understand them and appreciate the richness of life around us.

Who can enter: Students studying any aspect of ant biology
Deadline: Sept 1, 2012
Prizes: Best essay $500, Honorable Mentions featured at www.schoolofants.org

Guidelines:
Showcase a feature of ant biology, evolution, diversity, behavior or another scientifically based topic (see examples below) for a general audience. Topic must be based on your research, your observations or the scientific literature. Writing should appeal to the non-scientific public and offer intriguing facts or perspectives on ants. 300 words min, 600 words max. Multiple essays per author permitted. Each submission must be in the form of an email to theschoolofants@gmail.com, with the subject header: ESSAY SUBMISSION, and the following attachments:

1. 300-600 word essay (Word doc)
2. short biosketch with your research interests & affiliation (Word doc)
3. photo of you (jpg file, <1mb)
4. optional: photo illustrating essay topic

Example Topics:
The biggest ant, The smallest ant, Ant poop, Ants with odd diets, The bacteria in ants, Ant mouths, The chemical world of ants, Ant mysteries (we hope for many of these), The parasites of ants, Slave making ants, Things that look like ants but are not ants, The biggest ant societies, Male ants, The incredible life cycle of (pick an ant species, or an ant-associate), Ant nests, Caste determination, Ant larvae - what do they eat?, Dracula ants - why it makes sense to suck the blood of your offspring, Why ants wage war, Ant interactions with other insects, Ant-plant interactions, Ant mandible diversity, Ant sting structure, Ant territoriality, Task allocation among ants, How long do ants live?, Male ants, Polygyny, Polydomy, Invasive species spread, Pesticide resistance, Ants on islands, Fungus growing ants, Ants as soil architects, Dominance at baits, Nocturnal ants, Seed specialists, Army ants, Maurauder ants, Trapjaw ants, And anything else you can think of…

See Essay Context Announcement (PDF)

Our symposium at the Entomological Society of America meeting is set

We had what I would call a tremendously enthusiastic response to our solicitation of student talks for this year's ISH symposium at ESA. Exciting! Here's the draft schedule, which I'd say is quite compelling:

1. New insight into an old genus: revising Disholcaspis Dalle Torre & Kieffer, 1910 (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae); Crystal McEwen, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
2. Phylogenetics and taxonomy of the enigmatic genus Coccobius (Aphelinidae: Coccophaginae); Jason Mottern and John M. Heraty, University of California-Riverside, Riverside, CA 
3. Cremnops (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) of the World: a phylogenetic analysis; Erika Tucker and Michael J. Sharkey, Departement of Entomology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 
4. Employing polydnavirus genes to uncover cryptic species in Ichneumonoidea; Victoria G. Pook, Department of Entomology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 
5. Higher-level molecular phylogeny of Ophioniformes (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae); Andrés Herrera and Barbara J. Sharanowski, Department of Entomology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
6. Break (10 mins)
7. The origin and diversification of spider wasps (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae); Juanita Rodriguez, Cecilia Waichert, Carol D. von Dohlen and James P. Pitts, Biology Department, Utah State University, Logan, UT 
8. The shape of things to come: A morphometric analysis of the Dryinidae chela in relation to host choice; Carly M. Tribull, Dept. of Integrative Biology, University of California-Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 
9. Systematics of the "well-known" family Chyphotidae (Hymenoptera); Emily A. Sadler and James P. Pitts, Biology Department, Utah State University, Logan, UT 
10. Gustatory and odorant receptor genes in Trissolcus basalis (Platygastridae: Telenominae); Elijah Talamas and Norman F. Johnson, Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 
11. Business meeting
12. Announcement of best talk(s) with prize(s)
13. Foraging and pollination

Send any questions or comments to adeans @ gmail . com. 

ISH Endowment Student Award 2012

Please join us in congratulating the first recipient of the International Society of Hymenopterists Endowment Student Award: Aline Christina Martins, from the Universidad Federal do Paraná, in Curitiba, Brazil.

Congratulations!

ISH at ESA: student research showcase

Are you going to ESA this year? Are you a student whose research focuses on hymenopterans? Then you should think about submitting your oral presentation to the International Society of Hymenopterists (ISH) symposium! Our meeting will highlight student research, and we'll be awarding a cash prize and one year membership for the best talk!

We need your talk title and author list by May 11, 2012 - that's exactly one week from now. Questions and talk information should be emailed to adeans@gmail.com. We're looking forward to a great meeting!

ISH student symposium at ESA - cash prizes for best talk(s)!

Right on the heels of our 2nd student award this year (the ISH Endowment Student Award; results will be announced imminently!) I am happy to announce that the International Society of Hymenopterists is hosting a student presentation competition at the next Entomological Society of America annual meeting, in Knoxville. We'll award cash(!) prizes to the best talks by ISH student members. Contact Andy Deans (adeans @ gmail . com) for more details on how to submit your talk, and watch this space and our Facebook page for more information.

ISH Endowment Student Award - deadline extended

The deadline for the ISH Endowment Student Award deadline has been extended to March 2, 2012!