Biology 375 Entomology
Fall 2005
Faculty:
Dr. D.B. McCorquodale, A-116-F and A-109, 563-1260,
david_mccorquodale@capebretonu.ca
Text:
Borror, D.J. and White, R.E. 1970. A Field Guide to the Insects.
Houghton-Mifflin, Boston.
Entomology texts are available in the lab and on reserve in the library.
Objectives:
To acquaint students with the insects of Cape Breton, their structure,
diversity and biological roles. Students will be able to identify most
Cape Breton insects to family and make a professional insect collection
by the completion of the course.
Supplemental Exam: Available for bona fide medical and compassionate excuses.
Office Hours:
9:00-9:30 and 10:30-11:30 Monday, Wednesday and Friday
Classes:
12:30-13:20 Monday, Wednesday and Friday A-119
Field trips (labs) to be arranged with class, most in early September.
Laboratories:
13:30-16:30 Monday A-119
Schedule Fall 2005
12 September
Logistics, pinning, collecting, Orders, curation
19 September
Orders, morphology, anatomy
Submit 10 pinned specimens (mini-collection) for
critique
26 September
Orders
Orders test Monday 26 September
Coleoptera
03 October
Coleoptera, curation
10 October
Coleoptera
Orthoptera
17 October
Orthoptera, Hemiptera
24 October
Orthoptera, Hemiptera
Coleoptera, Orthoptera, Hemiptera test
Monday 26 October
Hymenoptera
31 October
Hymenoptera
Curation
07 November
Hymenoptera
Curation
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14 November
Hymenoptera test Monday 14 November
Diptera
Collection due Friday 18 November
21 November
Diptera, project work
28 November
Diptera
Project due Friday 02 December
XX December
Diptera Plus Test (25) During exam schedule
Assessment:
Orders Test
26 September
Coleoptera, Orthoptera, Hemiptera Test
26 October
Hymenoptera test
14 November
Diptera Plus
XX December
Collection
18 November
Project
02 December
10
15
15
25
20
15
All tests are cumulative.
Attendance at all classes is strongly encouraged, but not compulsory.
Academic Warning: Nonattendance is strongly correlated with low and failing marks.
Insect Collection
Late collections will not be marked. Specimens must be adult insects, except where
explicitly specified. All specimens must be properly preserved, properly labeled and
correctly identified to Order. A collection of 50-70 different insects will result in a very
good mark.
The goals of this assignment are to learn:
a) how to identify insects
b) how to preserve insect specimens
c) how to collect common insects
d) where insects occur in Cape Breton.
Collect and Pin:
Insects can be collected in your car, house, lawn, garden, lecture room and in the
bush. Specimens can be killed by freezing and then pinned. Freshly killed insects are
easy to pin. Old, dried insects are impossible.
You should collect the insects you submit. Specimens should be from Cape Breton.
If you are planning to collect elsewhere and submit these insects, please check with me
beforehand. It is okay to have one or two that a friend or sibling (but not a former student
in this course) caught. The labels must reflect who caught the insect and where it was
caught. The vast majority of specimens should be your own. It is not acceptable to
trade/borrow/steal/buy specimens from your classmates or students who took the course
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in previous years. I will consider this a form of plagiarism and treat offenses
appropriately. Feel free to ask for advice, but please do the collecting, pinning,
identifying and labeling yourself.
There is an appropriate way of pinning each group of insects (see Handout: Where to
stick the pin). The best way to learn is to try a few yourself. After you have pinned a few
observe the pinned specimens in the lab and consult the books in the lab and on reserve in
the library that outline how to pin and preserve insects. How do yours compare?
All specimens must be of adult insects, except that immatures of these aquatic Orders
are acceptable: Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera.
You have been provided with a storage box, pinning block, alcohol vials and insect
pins. You may need more supplies during the course. Please use what you have wisely
and let me know what you need. All equipment must be returned before any marks are
released for this course.
Student collections are a major source of material used for this course. Because of
this and because the university supplies the equipment, all specimens remain the property
of Cape Breton University.
Identify:
Each specimen should be identified to order and then to family as appropriate. There
are several ways of doing this. You may recognize what it is, you may find it in a picture
book or you may key it out. Several books, with keys and pictures, are available in the
lab. For some insects, pictures will work well. For other insects you will need to use a
key. For all, it is far easier and far more accurate if you know the basics of insect
morphology.
If you do not know how to use a key, learn.
It will save you time in the long run. One of the biggest hurdles to using a key is
learning the technical terms. Several books with pictures and keys will be available in the
lab.
Label:
The value of a specimen to others depends on the accuracy and completeness of the
data on the label. Labels are there to allow others to make use of the specimen. Your
specimens are valuable in the ongoing process of documenting the distribution of insects
in Canada. Keep this in mind when you are labeling your specimens. Believe it or not,
you are not just collecting insects to get marks in this course.
All specimens must have neat labels. The location, date, and collector are all
necessary. Latitude, longitude, habitat information and collecting technique should also
be included. The best collections will have this information on all labels.
It is essential to keep notes with the specimen at all times. Do not trust your memory
to associate pinned specimens with information at a later date. Incorrect information on a
label is worse than no information at all. I will not tolerate sloppy or inaccurate labeling.
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I give you fair warning, unlabelled specimens I find in the lab will be disposed of quickly.
If you have read this, you will keep accurate labels with all of your specimens, all of the
time. Please initial in the margin to let me know you have read and understood this.
This is a sample label, much enlarged:
CAN:NSRIchmondCo.
River Bourgeois
45°38.5’N60°57.9’W
22 Aug 2003
sweep Lotus corniculatus
DBMcCOruqodale
I ask that you email me the data needed for your labels in the format: Province,
County, location, lat long, habitat, date, your name.
Hand printing on labels must be in very thin black marker (for pinned specimens) or
very dark pencil (for specimens in alcohol). Be sure to use dark pencil or suitable marker
for labels in alcohol because the ink from most pens will run in ethanol, leaving you with
no label. I presume you remember what I will do with these specimens.
An insect box will house your collection. Arrange the insects by orders in the
sequence from your field guide. Within orders arrange families in the order they appear
in the field guide. Why? What order is this? Three sample collection are on display in
the lab. Two of them provide excellent models, the other …. Questions? Please ask.
Collecting Trips:
These are an opportunity to collect for your collection and to collect for your project.
Each will be 2-3 hours. Afterwards you will also need time to sort and organize your
collections. The collecting is the fun easy part.
Everyone should attend at least two of these trips in lieu of classes the week of 21
November. If weather is dismal, alternate times will be arranged. At this time of year
late morning to early afternoon are the best times for general collecting. Please talk with
each other so we can minimize the number of vehicles used.
Tentative schedule:
13 September Schooner Pond (13:30)
15 September Cape Breton University (13:30)
16 September Georges River (13:30)
17 September Schooner Pond (10:00)
19 September Cape Breton University (13:30)
25 September Cape Breton University (13:30)
01 October
Schooner Pond (10:00)
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