Overview return to Entomology Home Faculty Home U of M Home Entomology is the study of insects and their allies. Insects are the most numerous and most diverse animals on earth, and occur in virtually every aquatic and terrestrial habitat. Insects pollinate, parasitize, predate, defoliate, scavenge, promote decomposition and provide food for vertebrates.
Insect diversity is a measure of ecosystem health.
Insect pests seriously limit agricultural and forest productivity, and actions taken to control insects can affect many components of the environment. Insects exhibit numerous behavioural, morphological and physiological adaptations to their environment and offer many examples of evolution at work. Entomology became a separate Department within the Faculty of Agriculture in 1920. The first M.Sc. student graduated in 1951, and the first Ph.D. in 1962. The Department's main focus is now undergraduate and graduate teaching, and research.