Unit name | Insect Biology |
---|---|
Unit code | BIOL20204 |
Credit points | 10 |
Level of study | I/5 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2D (weeks 19 - 24) |
Unit director | Professor. Wall |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None. |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | School of Biological Sciences |
Faculty | Faculty of Life Sciences |
Aim:
To introduce you to the morphology and physiology of insects, their development and life-cycles, their evolution, behaviour and ecology.
There are more species of insect on earth than all other animals combined. Dazzlingly beautiful, behaviourally complex and ecologically essential, they play fundamental roles in almost all biological communities and ecosystems. This unit will introduce you to the morphology and physiology of insects, their development and life cycles, their evolution, behaviour and ecology. The unit will adopt an ecological perspective and emphasise the intimate relationships between insects, their behaviour and their environment.
Topics include: insect diversity and abundance, external morphology, the cuticle and moulting, digestion, nutrition and feeding, excretory systems, the tracheal system, the circulatory system, reproductive systems, flight and locomotion, sensory systems, and receptors, the naming and classification of insects, insect evolution, insect development and insect reproduction.
Successful completion of the unit will enable you to:
Lectures, directed reading, research and/or problem-solving activities; practical exercises and independent study.
Coursework (40%) plus summative written assessment (60%) with one essay question to be selected from a choice of two.
Insects. An Outline of Entomology 3rd edition, PJ Gullan & PS Cranston. Blackwells, Oxford.