Bi9790 Advanced entomology

Faculty of Science
autumn 2017
Extent and Intensity
4/0. 4 credit(s) (fasci plus compl plus > 4). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Igor Malenovský, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
prof. Mgr. Stanislav Pekár, Ph.D.
Department of Botany and Zoology – Biology Section – Faculty of Science
Contact Person: Mgr. Igor Malenovský, Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Botany and Zoology – Biology Section – Faculty of Science
Prerequisites
We recommend completion of the Bi6760 "Entomology" course. However, all students interested in insects are welcome.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course is complementary to the Bi6760 "Entomology" and Bi8780 "Insect systematics and phylogeny" courses. It addresses several general topics which are crucial to understand the evolution and ecology of insects, building on the current scientific knowledge.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course students should be able to:
- explain and discuss processes and adaptations underlying the diversity and evolutionary success of insects;
- integrate and combine the knowledge acquired in this course as well as in the other courses dealing with insects at MU into a wider context;
- be aware of the most important literature on each topic addressed in the course and to find there additional information if needed;
- think critically and evaluate every information in the field with caution (even in the cases when it was published by reknowned authors in highly cited journals).
Syllabus
  • 1. Insect morphology and evolution. Current knowledge of the insect systematics and phylogeny. Key evolutionary innovations for evolution of insect diversity. Internal fertilization, ways of sperm transfer, hypotheses explaining the diversity of insect genitalia. Six legs, monocondylous vs. dicondylous mandibles. Wings and their evolutionary origin, evolution of wing folding. Ovipositor and its evolutionary significance, structure of insect egg, viviparity in insects. Types of ovarioles, trophocytes and their evolutionary significance. Insect ontogeny and evolution. Postembryonal development, types of metamorphosis – ametaboly, hemimetaboly, neometaboly, holometaboly, hypermetamorphosis. Evolution of holometaboly, terminology of insect immature stages. Examples of heterochrony in insect evolution.
  • 2. Palaeoentomology. Fossil record of Hexapoda. Types of insect fossils: compression fossils, amber inclusions, ichnofossils. Diversity of extant and extinct insects. Oldest Hexapoda. Review of extinct orders of Pterygota, origins of extant orders, phylogenetic relationships of fossil taxa to extant ones. Age of insect species. Importance of fossils for entomology: dating of evolutionary events, improvements and testing of phylogenetic and biogeographical hypotheses, palaeoenvironmental studies. Techniques of study of fossil insects, their identification, fossil insect species concept, inclusion of fossil taxa into phylogenetic analyses, methods of calibrations of molecular clock. Subfossil insects.
  • 3. Insect behaviour. Different approaches to the study of insect behaviour. Physiological background of insect behaviour - central nervous system, hormones. Simple reflexes and motoric patterns, fixed action patterns, learning and memory, social learning, intelligence. Insect movement and orientation in space, migration, polymorphism and polyphenism, examples of migrating insect taxa.
  • 4. Insect communication and defense. Visual communication, evolution of bioluminescence. Mechanical communication, properties and ways of sound production, transfer and reception of sound and vibratory signals, bioacoustics and its use in insect taxonomy and phylogeny. Chemical communication, types of semiochemicals, chemoreception, pheromones, cuticular hydrocarbons, properties and evolution of pheromone systems, allelochemicals. Strategies of insect defense, cryptic coloration, mimesis, mechanical defense, chemical defense, aposematism, mimicry, collective defense in social insects.
  • 5. Social insects. Review of types of sociality in insects: gregarious and subsocial behaviour, colonies, quasi-sociality. Definition and ocurrence of eusociality in insects, life cycle of social insects. Problems of explanations of evolutionary origin of altruism, hypotheses on the origins of eusociality (mutualism, greenbeard, kin selection, manipulation theory). Polymorphism in eusocial insects. Diversity, biology and phylogeny of individual eusocial lines of insects: wasps, bees, ants, termites, thrips, aphids, beetles.
  • 6. Phytophagous insects and plants. Diversity and evolution of phytophagous insects, host plant specialization, different types of phytophagy (ectophagous macrophages, sap-suckers, leaf-miners, gall-makers, stem- and fruit-borers, seed predators). Adaptations of insects for life on plants, mechanisms of plant defense against herbivores, review of main types of plant secondary metabolites. Interactions of insect and plants in spaces, impact of phytophagous insects on plants, practical aspects. Theories explaining the diversity of phytophagous insects, the problem of coevolution, and case studies testing the latter.
  • 7. Insects and plants 2, insects and fungi. Pollinators and plants - the problem of mutualism, strategies and adaptations to pollination in plants and insects, evolution of pollination. Ants and plants, myrmecochory, myrmecophytic plants. Fungivorous insects – review of fungivorous taxa, factors influencing insect communities on fungi, cultivation of symbiotic fungi in ants, termites and bark beetles.
  • 8. Predation and parasitism in insects. Straegies and adaptations of predatory insects. Review of parasitoid taxa of insects, their biology and interactions with hosts. Insect parasites. Evolutionary success of insect parasitoids, parasites, herbivors and pollinators, the question of coevolution with hosts revisited.
  • 9. Symbionts and pathogens of insects. Symbiotic microorganisms in insects, particularly termites, xylophagous, haematophagous and plant-sucking insects. Ultraselfish bacteria, cytoplasmatic incompatibility, determination of sex in insects, feminization, male-killing, parthenogenesis, and their practical use. Review of insect pathogens: viruses, bacteria, fungi, microsporidia, nematodes. 10. Insects in extreme environment. Tolerance to high temperatures and dessication. Overwintering, diapause, cold hardiness. Insects in anaerobic environment - endoparasites and aquatic insects. Saline environment, oceans, osmoregulation. Insects in toxic environment. Insects in caves and subterranean spaces.
Literature
    recommended literature
  • GULLAN, P. J. and P. S. CRANSTON. The insects : an outline of entomology. Illustrated by Karina Hansen McInnes. 4th ed. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010, xvi, 565. ISBN 9781444330366. info
  • GRIMALDI, David A. and Michael S. ENGEL. Evolution of the insects. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005, xv, 755. ISBN 0521821495. info
  • Encyclopedia of entomology. Edited by John L. Capinera. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2004, xli, 815. ISBN 0792386701. info
  • Encyclopedia of insects. Edited by Vincent H. Resh - Ring T. Cardé. Amsterdam: Academic press, 2003, xxviii, 12. ISBN 0125869908. info
    not specified
  • MATTHEWS, Robert W. and Janice R. MATTHEWS. Insect behavior. 2nd ed. Dordrecht: Springer, 2010, xiii, 514. ISBN 9789048123889. info
  • Insect-plant biology. Edited by L. M. Schoonhoven - J. J. A. van Loon - Marcel Dicke. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005, xvii, 421. ISBN 9780198525943. info
  • HEMING, B. S. Insect development and evolution. Ithaca, N.Y.: Comstock Pub. Associates, 2003, xv, 444. ISBN 0801439337. info
Teaching methods
theoretical lectures combined with class discussions focusing mainly on critical interpretation of some selected influential scientific papers on topics covered in the course
Assessment methods
Oral exam, usually as a discussion of the lecturer with the student on two to three selected topics from the contents of the course. To pass, the student needs to be able to correctly answer all basic questions aiming at the heart of the problems and to demonstrate her/his general knowledge of the topics.
Language of instruction
Czech
Follow-Up Courses
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught once in two years.
Information on the per-term frequency of the course: podzimní semestr lichých let.
The course is taught: every week.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2011, Autumn 2011 - acreditation, Autumn 2012, Autumn 2013, Autumn 2015, Autumn 2019, autumn 2021, Autumn 2023.
  • Enrolment Statistics (autumn 2017, recent)
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