Course Description:  Life through compound eyes.  Insects rule the earth. They are conspicuous occupants of every terrestrial environment in the world.  They influence the properties of ecosystems and the biology of all species within ecosystems.  There are more species of insects than all other plant and animal groups combined.  Furthermore, insects have proven to be ideal organisms for biological study within virtually every subdiscipline of biology.  In this course, we will draw from the treasure of pioneering research that has been conducted with insects to study the most general and important biological theories from all levels of biological organization: biochemical, molecular, cellular, developmental, organismal, population, communities, and ecosystems -- and naturally we will do so from the perspective of the evolutionary processes that shape life on earth.  Along the way we will also see how the insect body plan and its underlying genome have permitted the breathtaking diversification of insects, and we will note some of the myriad ways in which insects affect the lives of humans in terms of disease, agriculture, and the environment.

Instructors: Matt Ayres and Ed Berger, Department of Biological Sciences

Schedule: Fall 2007, 2009.