Dubuque, IA General Description Insects are a remarkable group of animals. They occupy nearly every niche in nature and make up more than half of all living things on the planet. The study of insects is an important part of the training of every agriculturalist, biology teacher, and student of nature. In todays society with the growing awareness of the environment this course will also be of benefit to those student involved in environmental sciences programmes. This is a lecture course with a seminar component designed to introduce students to insect physiology.
Insects provide an ideal medium in which to study many aspects of physiology.
To study physiology in any organism it is important to cover both the form and function of the various systems, and to also discuss the regulatory mechanisms involved in this functioning. Structure is described only to an extent sufficient to make the physiological arguments intelligible. The physiology of the nervous system, endocrine system, digestive system, etc., will be discussed. It is expected that you will have done the readings prior to attending the class. The content of these lectures will cover basic areas of insect physiology and will hopefully provide a base for the seminars, which will deal with specific cases and examples.