Bi6760 Entomology

Faculty of Science
Spring 2025
Extent and Intensity
2/2/0. 4 credit(s) (plus extra credits for completion). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
In-person direct teaching
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Igor Malenovský, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Lenka Dušátková, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
RNDr. Andrea Špalek Tóthová, 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 (in Czech)
Bi1030 Inverteb. phylog. & divers.
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
Student will acquire basic knowledge on the systematic placement of insects, their diversity, morphology, anatomy, ontogeny and phylogeny. At the end of the course, student should be able to correctly identify all insect orders, use and understand scientific terminology related to insect morphology and anatomy, find individual morphological structures and organs on/in the insect body and to explain their function in the adults or immature stages.
Learning outcomes
Student will acquire basic knowledge on the systematic placement of insects, their diversity, morphology, anatomy, ontogeny and phylogeny. At the end of the course, student should be able to correctly identify all insect orders, use and understand scientific terminology related to insect morphology and anatomy, find individual morphological structures and organs on/in the insect body and to explain their function in the adults or immature stages.
Syllabus
  • 1. Systematic placement of insects, their origin, evolution and diversity, insect body groundplan, habitus and body size. 2. Body segmentation, cuticle, colouring. 3. Head, head capsule and tentorium, head modifications. Antennae, mouthparts and their modifications. 4. Thorax: morphology and evolution of thoracal segments (wingless and winged). Insect limb and its evolution and modifications, praetaersal structures. 5. Wing, fields and veins, basal sclerites, wing coupling, reduction and polymorphism. Flight, wing folding and resting. 6. Abdomen, structure, segmentation and appendages. Styli and coxal vesicles, cerci and filum terminale. Larval abdominal legs. External male and female genitalia, ovipositor and its modifications. Sound-producing organs. 7. Excretory organs, glands, secretory cell, cutaneous and salivary glands, sting of Aculeata. Muscles, physiology of muscular activity. 8. Alimentary canal and its parts, stomodeum, mesenteron, proctodeum, histology of gut, physiology of digestion, absorption and nutrition, filter chamber. Food intake, insect diets. 9. Respiratory organs, structure and development of tracheal system, spiracles, tracheae and tracheoles and their arrangement. Respiration. 10. Haemolymph, circulatory system. Fat body, pericardial cells and oenocytes. Luminescence. 11. Central nervous system, insect brain and ganglia, visceral nervous system, neuron and histology of nerves. Endocrine system. 12. Sense organs, sensory seta, scolopidium. Mechanoreceptors, auditory organs, chemoreceptors, compound eyes and ocelli. Behaviour. 13. Male and female reproductive system, spermatogenesis, oogenesis, sperm transfer. Sexual dimorphism. 14. Embryonic development, cleavage and blastoderm formation, differentiation of blastoderm, embryo segmentation and extraembryonic organes, blastokinesis. Organogenesis. 15. Postembryonic development, types of metamorphosis, developmental stages, endopterygote larvae, pupae. 16. Introduction to insect systematics, basic characteristics of individual insect orders and interordinal phylogenetic relationships.
Literature
    recommended literature
  • BEUTEL, Rolf. Insect morphology and phylogeny : a textbook for students of entomology. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2014, xv, 516. ISBN 9783110262636. info
  • CHAPMAN, R. F. The insects : structure and function. Edited by Stephen J. Simpson - A. E. Douglas. Fifth edition. New York [N.Y.]: Cambridge University Press, 2013, xxxi, 929. ISBN 9780521113892. info
  • 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
Teaching methods
lecture (theory, 2 hours a week), practicals in the lab (2 hours a week)
Assessment methods
Written and oral exam, identification of insect material.
Language of instruction
Czech
Follow-Up Courses
Further Comments
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: every week.
Listed among pre-requisites of other courses
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2008 - for the purpose of the accreditation, Spring 2011 - only for the accreditation, Spring 2003, Spring 2004, Spring 2005, Spring 2006, Spring 2007, Spring 2008, Spring 2009, Spring 2010, Spring 2011, Spring 2012, spring 2012 - acreditation, Spring 2013, Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, spring 2018, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2025, recent)
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