EEB 4250 -- GENERAL ENTOMOLOGY

Fall Semester, 2015

Instructor

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

Teaching Assistant

Katie Taylor, TLS 479 (katie.leah.taylor@gmail.com)

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 

General information: instructors, lab supplies, and general entomology textbooks

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

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

Lecture 2, September 3.  The evolution of insects: Hexapods and the smaller insect orders

Lecture 3, September 8.  The evolution of insects: Endopterygota (Holometabola)

Lecture 4, September 10.   The insect integument: epidermis and cuticle

Lecture 5, September 15.  The insect integument: flexibility, outgrowths, & ingrowths

Lecture 6, September 17.  Insect colors; external morphology of the insect head

Lecture 7, September 22.  Head morphology: sclerites, determinants of shape, and antennae

Lecture 8, September 24.  Mouthparts and their modifications; the insect thorax, part 1

Lecture 9, September 29.  The pterothorax; the structure and origin of legs

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

Lecture 11, October 6.  Origin of wings, part 2; wing biomechanics and aerodynamics

Lecture 12, October 8.  The basic structure of and venation of insect wings

MIDTERM HOUR EXAMINATION, October 13.

Lecture 13, October 15.  Wing-beat mechanisms; introduction to the insect abdomen

Lecture 14, October 20.  External structures of the abdomen; introduction to the alimentary tract

Lecture 15, October 22.  Foregut, midgut, and hindgut: structure, function, and modifications

Lecture 16, October 27.  Variations on the theme of digestion in insects

Lecture 17, October 29.  Mycetocytes and feeding ecology; excretory and respiratory (ventilatory) systems

Lecture 18, November 3.  Spiracle structure, aquatic respiratory adaptations, and introduction to the circulatory system

Lecture 19, November 5.  Circulatory system, blood (haemolymph), and introduction to insect muscles

Lecture 20, November 10.  Insect muscles and introduction to the Central Nervous System

Lecture 21, November 12.  The insect nervous system: structure and function

Lecture 22, November 17.  Mechanoreption, chemoreception, and an introduction to the visual system

Lecture 23, November 19.  Insect eyes and vision; the reproductive system, part 1

Thanksgiving Break

Lecture 24, December 1.  The reproductive system, part 2; fertilization and sex determination

Lecture 25, December 3.  Courtship, mating, and sexual selection in insects

Lecture 26, December 8.  Acoustical communication in insects

Lecture 27, December 10.  Insect development

FINAL EXAMINATION, December 18, 10:30-12:30 AM