3-3-0

With close to a million described species, insects form more than 70% of animal diversity. But in spite of such overwhelming diversity they are poorly known and consequently often excluded from biodiversity studies. The main goal of this course is to teach the students how to collect, preserve and identify insects, especially those found in eastern North America. In addition to using material housed in the Bishop's insect collection, material collected in the field by each student will be prepared in a fashion that will make the specimens museum worthy. Through the collecting and identification process, students will learn about insect taxonomy but they will also learn about where differnet taxa can be found and what their general ecological requirements are. Once they have completed the course, students should be able to identify most commonly encountered insects at least to the family level and recognize those that are beneficial or potentially harmful.

Prerquisite: BIO 115

Professor Savage