EEB 286 -- GENERAL ENTOMOLOGY

Fall Semester, 2007

Instructor

Charles S. Henry, TLS 481 (charles.henry@uconn.edu)

Teaching Assistant

Maxi Polihronakis, TLS 479 (maxi.polihronakis@uconn.edu)

Lectures Tuesday/Thursday 12:30 - 1:20 PM, TLS 313

Laboratory Tuesday/Thursday 1:30 - 3:30 PM, TLS 313

Syllabus and textbook reading assignments 

Here's a list of all the insect orders and several of the important suborders, along with a reasonably up-to-date tally of the number of species described within each of them.

Lecture 1, August 28.  Introduction: Insects and the non-insect Arthropoda

Lecture 2, August 30.  The evolution of insects: Hexapods and the smaller insect orders

Lecture 3, September 5.  The evolution of insects: Endopterygota

Lecture 4, September 7.   The insect integument: epidermis and cuticle

Lecture 5, September 11.  The insect integument: flexibility, outgrowths, & ingrowths

Lecture 6, September 13.  Insect colors; external morphology of the insect head

Lecture 7, September 18.  Head morphology: sclerites, determinants of shape, and antennae

Lecture 8, September 20.  Mouthparts and their modifications; the insect thorax, part 1

Lecture 9, September 25.  The pterothorax; the structure and origin of legs

Lecture 10, September 27.  Functional specializations of legs; origin of insect wings, part 1

Lecture 11, October 2.  Origin of wings, part 2; wing biomechanics and aerodynamics

Lecture 12, October 4.  The basic structure of and venation of insect wings 

Midterm Hour Examination, October 9.

Lecture 13, October 11.  Wing-beat mechanisms; introduction to the insect abdomen

Lecture 14, October 16.  External structures of the abdomen; introduction to the alimentary tract

Lecture 15, October 18.  Foregut, midgut, and hindgut: structure, function, and modifications

Lecture 16, October 23.  Variations on the theme of digestion in insects

Lecture 17, October 25.  Excretory and respiratory (ventilatory) systems

Lecture 18, October 30.  Spiracle structure, aquatic respiratory adaptations, and introduction to the circulatory system

Lecture 19, November 1.  Circulatory system, blood (haemolymph), and introduction to insect muscles

Lecture 20, November 6.  Insect muscles and introduction to the Central Nervous System

Lecture 21, November 8.  The insect nervous system: structure and function

Lecture 22, November 13.  Mechanoreption, chemoreception, and an introduction to the visual system

Lecture 23, November 15.  Insect eyes and vision; the reproductive system, part 1

Lecture 24, November 27.  The reproductive system, part 2; fertilization and sex determination

Lecture 25, November 29.  Courtship, mating, and sexual selection in insects

Lecture 26, December 4.  Acoustical communication in insects

Lecture 27, December 6.  Insect development