Photo: Dr. Jessica Ware

When: Tuesday, September 6, 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Where: Virtual
Member ticket: $15
Non-member ticket: $25

Learn about dragonflies and how they gained their incredible abilities.

Dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata) are some of the oldest insects on the planet, and over millions of years they have evolved flying abilities that make them the most efficient predators on earth. Come learn more about these ancient animals that are all around us with expert and researcher, Dr. Jessica Ware. Dr. Ware will lead us on a time traveling journey through the past 400 million years of their evolution, going back to the Late Carboniferous to Early Triassic. You will learn more about their life cycles, reproductive behaviors, colorful communication techniques, and the anatomy that makes them such successful predators.

Jessica Ware is an associate curator in invertebrate zoology at the American Museum of Natural History. Dr. Ware’s research focuses on the evolution of behavioral and physiological adaptations in insects, with an emphasis on how these occur in Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) and Dictyoptera (termites, cockroaches, and mantises). She holds a B.Sc. from the University of British Columbia in Canada, and a Ph.D. from Rutgers, New Brunswick. Dr. Ware is the past president of the Worldwide Dragonfly Association and serves as current president of the Entomological Society of America. She was recently awarded a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) Award from the U.S. government for her work on insect evolution.