Entomology
Biology 360
Syllabus and Tentative Schedule
Instructor: Dr. Robin Richardson, Pasteur 246, Phone-457-5128 email:
Office Hours: posted on office doors and after a week or so of classes, on the web.
Text(s): Richard Elzinga’s Fundamentals of Entomology 6th ed. and a Field Guide (we will look at your choices the first week with pros and cons for each.
Other Required Materials: Colored pencils, field notebook, fine forceps, and a hand lens. You can buy or acquire a collection tray.
Course Philosophy: The class will be conducted to reflect the instructor's expectation that we are touring a fascinating subject. Everyone will be expected to be curious about insects. Questions will be answered that reflect this curiosity while those dealing with grade-oriented problems are best answered in office hours. Active learning will be emphasized, with drawing and exercises designed to involve you in the material.
Grade Determination: You can (and should) keep track of your grade as it will be based on the percentage of points offered (listed below) that you earn. Quizzes will be both announced and unannounced and I expect you to attend class so I assign exercises and pop quizzes as if everyone is always there. If you know you will miss and may need to make up work, I must be notified before you miss. This is prerequisite to obtaining a make-up OK but you must also receive my acceptance of your excuse. Make-up exams are very difficult and require a proportionately important reason. Do not take the likelihood of a make-up for granted!
The laboratory is a significant component of the class and you should plan on setting up camp in our lab in the Science Laboratory Center. Become very comfortable with the insect collection. It will be your ticket to learning the major insect groups, required for the second lab practical. Laboratory exercises are due in pulses as we go.
Points offered: 3 lecture tests @ 100 pts each=300 points
Focal order lab notebook=150 points (includes presentation)
Laboratory exams =150 points
Collection or project =100 points
Discussions and other=100 points
total possible=800 points or your own negotiated design*
*negotiations are initiated by you and must be completed (in a written contract signed by both of us) by the third week of classes.
You must sign up for responsibility for one laboratory to earn your laboratory notebook points.
Exam and Quiz Format: Exams will be multiple choice, matching, short answer, essay and drawings. You should bring colored pencils and a #2 pencil. Quizzes may be multiple choice, short answer, drawing or essay. Exercises are done outside of class. Anything that is not completed before the deadline will be devalued by 10 percent per day (including weekends).
Hints: Successful completion of this course requires that you quickly get into the proper frame of mind. Plan on keeping up with the reading, drawing in class as I draw and concentrating on the material. I am not here to assign you a grade. Rather, my role is to help you learn material. I will focus on this goal and I expect you to also focus on the content of the class. Frame your questions in curiosity.
A ride home is not grounds for an excused make-up exam, quiz or exercise.
Tentative Schedule for 360
DateTopicReading
August 23Importance of the GroupChapter one
August 25Insects in context (Arthropods)Chapter one
August 27Insect body planChapter two
August 30Insect integumentChapter one
September 1Choosing your focal order (classif. and nomen)Chapter thirteen
September 3tagmata: head, thorax and abdomenChapter two
September 8Using the books in the lab
September 10Modifications of the head and insect musclesChapter two/three
September 13 glands of insectsChapter four
September 15 neuroendocrine to sensesChapter three/four
September 17 Field Guide comparison*bring yours
September 20 Sensory physiology of insectsChapter three/four
September 22 Perceiving what insects perceiveexercise
September 24 Test one (Chapters 1,2,3,4 and 13, labs, and outside reading)
September27Reproductive systems of malesChapter three
September 29 Reproductive systems of femalesChapter three
October 1 neuroendocrineChapter three/four
October 4Reproductive behaviorChapter six
October 6Locating food Chapter six
October 8 Predation by insectsChapter nine
October 11Getting to the guts of insect eatingChapter three
October 13 Embryology and developmentChapter four
October 15 Berenbaum discussionassorted magazines
October 18 Parasites among the InsectsChapter eight
October 20 Social parasites to social insectsChapter seven/eight
October 22 Relationships among the insectsbooks in lab
October25 Evolutionary relationships: more insectsbooks in lab
October 27Evolutionary relationships: arthropodsbooks in lab
October 29Monophyletic versus polyphyletic books in lab
November 1Second test (chapters 1, 2,4,5,6 and 7plus labs)
November 3 Overview of insect orders (book plus handouts)Chapter thirteen
November 5Order review (OR): Entognathahandouts
November 8Order Review (OR): Paleopterahandouts
November 10OR: Plecopteroid Ordershandouts
November 12OR: Orthopteroid Ordershandouts
November 17OR: Orthopteroid Ordershandouts
November 19 OR: Hemipteroid Ordershandouts
November21 OR: Coleopteroid Ordershandouts
November24OR: Neuropteroid Ordershandouts
December 1OR: Panorpoid Ordershandouts
December 3OR: Hymenopteroid Ordershandouts
December 5Insect-Human interactionsChapters ten-twelve
Our final exam will be 8-10 on the 6th of December in our regular room.
Laboratories: We cannot predict the weather so we cannot place the laboratories in order. I will tell you the week of the lab where to meet (you are responsible for your transportation) and what to bring. These are the lab titles (themes). You will need to take the lead on one lab.
Indoor laboratoriesOutdoor laboratories
External Morphology (done independently)Garden as an insect ecosystem
Internal Morphology (done independently)Cow Pie Succession
Comparison with related groupsGalls on Solidago
Social Insects: HoneybeesPest Management: German Yellow-jackets
Social Insects: AntsAquatic Insects
Social Hymenoptera constructionPollination: Honeybees vs. natives
Cricket and Hissing Roach Behavior