General Entomology
EEB 4250 - General Entomology
Fall 2012
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
- 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
Course Flickr page: UConnGenEnt2012
- Please add your photos to an existing set for class trips, or create your own set
- Add your name or initials to the description of each photo you upload
- Feel free to comment using the main account or your own flickr account
Lab information
You may work on your collection in the lab outside of class time at these times:
- Mondays and Fridays after 10am
- Tuesdays and Thursdays before or after class
Collection Materials
Bonus Assignments
Date | Lecture | Quiz | Lab | Readings |
---|---|---|---|---|
August 28 | Course overview | Wagner Lab visit Collections Facility Intro to collections |
G+C Chapter 1 B+W pgs 4-29 | |
August 30 | Importance of insects Introduction to insect diversity Introduction |
Insect walk Collecting methods Pinning Lab 2 |
G+C Chapter 2 The Joy of Formication | |
Sept 4 | Insect body I: external anatomy External anatomy I |
Quiz 1: Insect Collecting | Overview of Insect Orders Pinning demonstration Lab 3 |
|
Sept 6 | Insect body II: external anatomy External anatomy II |
External Grasshopper Anatomy Lab 4 |
G+C Chapter 3 | |
Sept 7-9 | Great Mountain Forest Trip | |||
Sept 11 | Insect body III: external anatomy External anatomy III |
Quiz 2: Insect Orders | Internal anatomy dissection Lab 5 |
Virtual Cockroach Ant losing wings |
Sept 13 | Internal anatomy I | Aquatic insects Aquatic field trip |
||
Sept 18 | Internal anatomy II Geologic history I |
Quiz 3: Insect Anatomy | Non-insect arthropods Early hexapods: Entognatha, Apterygota, Ephemeroptera, Odonata |
|
Sept 20 | Geologic history II Higher classification of insects |
Blattodea, Mantodea, Phasmatodea, Orthoptera | ||
Sept 25 | Development and life histories | Quiz 4: Primitive insect orders | Dermaptera, Plecoptera, Embioptera, Pscoptera | |
Sept 27 | Nervous system and sensory organs | Phthiraptera, Thysanoptera, Hemiptera (aquatic) | ||
Oct 2 | MIDTERM 1 | Hemiptera II (Heteroptera) | ||
Oct 4 | Nervous system and sensory organs II | Hemiptera III (Aucheno- and Sternorrhyncha) | ||
Oct 9 | Insect behavior | Hemiptera IV (Fulgoroidea) Bug jeopardy |
||
Oct 11 | Microcosmos (80 minutes) | Quiz 5: Hemimetabola | Megaloptera, Neuroptera, Strepsiptera | |
Oct 16 | Social insects | Coleoptera I | ||
Oct 18 | Social insects Phytophagous insects |
Coleoptera II Special Lab Topic: Plant secondary compounds & insect herbivory Greenhouse tour |
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Oct 23 | Phytophagous insects | Coleoptera III | ||
Oct 25 | Insects and plants Herbivory and plant defense |
Coleoptera IV Special Lab Topic: ghost moths and other scary insects |
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Oct 30 | Forensic entomology (Dr. William Krinsky) | Trichoptera, Lepidoptera I Bug jeopardy II |
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Nov 1 | MIDTERM 2 | Quiz 6: Megaloptera, Neuroptera, Strepsiptera, and Coleoptera | Lepidoptera II Special Lab Topic: silk |
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Nov 6 | Insects: the hunted and their defenses | Mecoptera, Siphonaptera, Diptera I | ||
Nov 8 | Entomophagous insects | Diptera II | ||
Nov 13 | Chemical ecology of insects (Scott Smedley) | Diptera III | ||
Nov 15 | Medical & veterinary entomology | Open lab | ||
Nov 27 | Medical & veterinary entomology | Quiz 7: Mecopteroidea | Hymenoptera I | |
Nov 29 | Insect ecology | Hymenoptera II | ||
Dec 4 | Pest management and biological control | Open lab | ||
Dec 6 | Insect conservation | LAB PRACTICUM | Open lab | |
TBA | FINAL EXAM |