When Entomologists Date

Abstract

Entomologists Date HOW old is the social behavior of termites? When did the ancestor of modern lice evolve? Did dragonflies evolve in the Cretaceous? To answer these types of questions, researchers can use molecular methods to estimate species' evolutionary divergence times. At the 2010 ESAAnnual Meeting in San Diego, a Section Symposium called 'When Entomologists Date: Using Fossils and Data to Determine Insect Evolutionary and Biogeography was presented, showcasing several talks focusing on in insect lineages. Molecular dating;' as it is termed by systematists and evolutionary biologists, is a method used to approximate the timing of evolutionary events via a combination of DNA sequence data, phylogenetic methodology. and temporal information from fossils or biogeography. Synergy among these different areas of research has allowed major progress and led to many new methods in estimating evolutionary divergences. Dating of insect divergences has been used to time things such as the origin of human clothing (Kittler et aI., 2003) or the origin of complete metamorphosis in insects (Weigmann et aI., 2009). The concept of the 2010 ESA symposium was formed during a small session at the 2009 ESA Eastern-Branch Meeting at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. At the Eastern Branch meeting. Kawahara, Thomas, and Ware met for lunch and discussed the possibility of making the relatively new topic into a much larger single symposium. Jessica Ware and Jessica Thomas proceeded to formulate a Divergence Time Estimation Workshop at Rutgers University in January 2010. This specialized conference drew researchers from afar, including Florida, Louisiana, and Utah. From the use of fossils in molecular studies to the effect of morphology on evolutionary estimates, there was a broad range of material covered in the oral papers. The meeting was well attended, and a total of 16 presentations were given (Sean Brady, Frank Burbrink, Seth Bybee, Christy-Jo Geraci, Akito Kawahara, Sergios-Orestis Kolokotronis, Jessica Light, Corrie Moreau, Christopher Owen, Alex Pyron, Sara Ruane, Hojun Song, Gavin Svenson, Jessica Thomas, and Jessica Ware). After the successful Rutgers conference, Kawahara, Thomas, and Ware, who are all entomologists, decided to concentrate on dating in entomology for an ESA symposium. This year's symposium featured 15 speakers from 12 different institutions (Sean Brady. Marc Branham, Bryan Danforth, Conrad Labandiera, Jessica Light, Jessica Litman, Duane McKenna, David Marshall, Corrie Moreau, Karen Ober; Christopher Owen, Hojun Song, Jessica Thomas, and Jessica Ware). Summaries of several of these talks are included below as part of this article. We hope this instant symposium article will encourage the readers of American Entomologist to consider the impact that insect might have on their fields of interest. We thank all of the presenters of the Symposium and those who also agreed to write summaries for this issue.