General Entomology

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EEB 4250 - General Entomology

Fall 2014

Day/Time: Tuesday+Thursday 12:30-3:30
Place: Storrs campus, Torrey Life Sciences Room 313
Credits: 4
Instructor: David Wagner

Life Sciences Rm 471
860-486-2139 and 860-942-1796 (cell)
Office hours: 10 MWF and as available

TA: Brigette Zacharczenko

Life Sciences Rm 473
518-573-3091 (cell)
Office hours: as available (email for appointment)

Textbook:

  • Borror, DJ and RE White, 1970. Peterson Field Guide to Insects: America North of Mexico.
  • Gullan, P. J. and P. S. Cranston. 2010. The Insects: An Outline of Entomology. Fourth Ed. Blackwell Science, Oxford, England.


Introduction

The lectures provide a broad introduction to insect diversity, phylogeny, structure and function, behavior, ecology, and conservation. The laboratory stresses sight identification and natural history of 120 common insect families. The collection requirement connects the lecture and laboratory by linking lecture topics, and especially insect behavior and ecology, to Connecticut’s extraordinary insect fauna.

Course Procedures and Policies

Academic Integrity:
Plagiarism and cheating are violations of the student conduct code, and may be punished by failure in the course or, in severe cases, dismissal from the University. For more information, see Appendix A of the Student Conduct Code.

Disabilities:
If you have a disability for which you may be requesting an accommodation, you should contact a course instructor and the Center for Students with Disabilities (Wilbur Cross Building, Room 201) within the first two weeks of the semester.

Syllabus and Course Materials

Item Points
Midterms (90 pts each) 180 pts
Final 175 pts
Collection 300 pts
7 lab quizzes (25 pts each), live insect project (25 pts), ecology exercise (25 pts), attendance and participation (25 pts) 250 pts
Lab practicum 75 pts
Current events (2 articles) 20 pts
Total 1000 pts


Date Lecture Quiz Lab Readings
August 28 Course overview Wagner Lab visit
Collections Facility
Intro to collections
Pdficon small.gifG+C Chapter 1
Pdficon small.gifB+W pgs 4-29
August 30 Importance of insects
Introduction to insect diversity
Insect walk
Collecting methods
Pinning
Pdficon small.gifG+C Chapter 2
Pdficon small.gifThe Joy of Formication
Sept 2 Insect body I: external anatomy
Pdficon small.gifExternal anatomy I
Quiz 1: Insect Collecting Overview of Insect Orders
Pinning demonstration
Sept 4 Insect body II: external anatomy External Grasshopper Anatomy Pdficon small.gifG+C Chapter 3
Sept 5-7 Great Mountain Forest Trip
Sept 9 Insect body III: external anatomy Quiz 2: Insect Orders Internal anatomy dissection Virtual Cockroach
Ant losing wings
Sept 11 Internal anatomy I Aquatic insects
Aquatic field trip
Sept 16 Internal anatomy II
Geologic history I
Quiz 3: Insect Anatomy Non-insect arthropods
Early hexapods: Entognatha, Apterygota, Ephemeroptera, Odonata
Sept 18 Geologic history II
Higher classification of insects
Blattodea, Mantodea, Phasmatodea, Orthoptera
Walk to W lot
Sept 23 Development and life histories Quiz 4: Primitive insect orders+
Aquatic insects
Dermaptera, Plecoptera, Embioptera, Pscodea
Sept 25 Growth and development Collection check #1 Phthiraptera, Thysanoptera, Hemiptera (aquatic)
Sept 29 MIDTERM 1 Hemiptera II (Heteroptera)
Oct 2 Nervous system and sensory organs II
Hemiptera III (Aucheno- and Sternorrhyncha, Fulgoroidea)
Oct 7 Insect behavior Bug jeopardy
Aquatic insect ecology field trip
Oct 9 Social insects Quiz 5: Hemimetabola Megaloptera, Neuroptera
Oct 14 Social insects, phytophagous insects Strepsiptera, Coleoptera I
Oct 16 Phytophagous insects, insects and plants Coleoptera II
Special Lab Topic: Plant secondary compounds & insect herbivory
Greenhouse tour
Oct 21 Acoustical insects (Dr. Charles Henry) Coleoptera III
Oct 23 Forensic entomology (Dr. William Krinsky) Coleoptera review
Bug jeopardy
Oct 28 Phytophagous insects, defenses Trichoptera, Lepidoptera I
Special lab topic: ghost moths and other scary insects
Oct 30 MIDTERM 2 Quiz 6: Megaloptera, Neuroptera, Strepsiptera, and Coleoptera Trichoptera, Lepidoptera II
Special lab topic: silk
Nov 4 Entomophagous insects Mecoptera, Siphonaptera, Diptera I
Nov 6 Entomophagous insects continued Collection Check #2 Diptera II
Nov 11 Medical and veterinary entomology Diptera III
Open lab
Nov 13 Medical and veterinary entomology Hymenoptera I
Nov 18 Chemical ecology of insects (Scott Smedley) Open lab
Nov 20 Insect ecology Quiz 7: Mecopteroidea Hymenoptera II
Dec 2 Pest management and biological control Open lab
Dec 4 Insect conservation LAB PRACTICUM Open lab
TBD FINAL EXAM COLLECTION DUE