Insect biology: insect anatomy + physiology + behavior + ecology + diversity / Holometabola vs Hemimetabola / pollinator decline / forensic-entomology / agricultural-pest / vector-borne disease.
Entomology
Insect anatomy + physiology
Body-plan: head + thorax + abdomen / 6 legs / 2 antennae / open-circulatory / tracheal-respiration / Malpighian-tubule excretion. Snodgrass…
Insect metamorphosis (Holometabola / Hemimetabola)
Holometabola (~80% insects): egg → larva → pupa → adult complete metamorphosis. Hemimetabola: nymph → adult incomplete. Hox +…
Pollinator decline + bee colony collapse
Goulson 2015 / Sánchez-Bayo 2019 ~75% global insect biomass decline. CCD (2006-) + Varroa-mite + neonicotinoid + habitat-loss. ~$300B/yr…
Forensic entomology + PMI
Maggot-development to estimate post-mortem-interval. Smith 1986 'A Manual of Forensic Entomology'. Calliphoridae + Sarcophagidae.…
Agricultural pest + economic threshold
Stern-van-den-Bosch 1959 IPM (cross-listed L2 agrochemistry). Economic-injury-level + economic-threshold drive intervention timing.…
Vector-borne disease (malaria / Anopheles)
Anopheles-Plasmodium life-cycle (Ross-Laveran-Manson Nobel 1902/07/02). ~600k malaria-deaths/yr (mostly Africa). RTS,S vaccine (2021 WHO) +…
Insect flight aerodynamics (clap-fling)
Weis-Fogh 1973 clap-fling mechanism — insects generate lift exceeding quasi-steady predictions via leading-edge-vortex + clap-fling.…
Social insects + eusociality
Hamilton 1964: kin-selection (rb > c) + haplodiploidy explain ant + bee + wasp eusociality. Wilson 1971 'Insect Societies'. Cross-listed L5…
Insect pheromones + chemical communication
Karlson-Lüscher 1959 coined 'pheromone'. Bombykol (silk-moth Butenandt 1959). Aggregation / alarm / sex / trail pheromones. Used in…
Insect vision + compound eye
~20000 ommatidia in compound-eye. Polarized-light navigation (Karl von Frisch Nobel 1973). UV + green dichromatic typical. Bridges to L4…
Insect ecosystem services (~$57B / yr US)
Losey-Vaughan 2006: insects provide pollination + biocontrol + nutrient-cycling + bioturbation worth ~$57B/yr in US alone. Bridges…
Insect decline + windshield effect
Hallmann 2017 Krefeld: 76% biomass decline 1989-2016 in German nature-reserves. 'Windshield-effect' anecdotal evidence. Bridges to L5…
Insect flight (Ellington 1984)
C P Ellington 1984 leading-edge vortex in flapping flight; revised quasi-steady aerodynamics; modern Wang 2005 high-Re micro-air-vehicle…
Eusociality + haplodiploidy (Hamilton 1964)
W D Hamilton 1964 haplodiploidy + 3/4 sister relatedness in Hymenoptera; key to ant/bee/wasp eusociality evolution; Wilson + Holldobler…
Bee dance (von Frisch 1973)
K von Frisch 1973 (Nobel 1973) honeybee waggle-dance: distance encoded in duration, direction in angle vs sun; symbolic communication in…
Metamorphosis (ecdysone + JH)
Wigglesworth 1934 JH + Karlson-Butenandt 1954 ecdysone (Nobel 1939): hemolymph hormones drive molting + metamorphosis; modern JH-receptor…
Pheromones (Bombykol Butenandt 1959)
A Butenandt 1959 first-isolated pheromone bombykol from silk-moth; opened olfactory-communication research; modern moth-trap…
Insect decline (Hallmann 2017)
Hallmann 2017 Krefeld 27-yr study: 75% decline in flying-insect biomass in German nature-reserves; Sanchez-Bayo 2019 review; pesticide +…