BIO 286: Humans, Insects, and Disease
Spring 2004
229 Woodward Hall
Phone: 874-2934
Fax: 874-2494
E-Mail: LEBRUN@uri.edu
http://www.uri.edu/cels/pls/lebrun/bio286.htm
Course Goals: This course is an introduction to the diverse components of medical and cultural entomology, emphasizing the biological aspects of insects and their relationship with global health as it relates to humans and the environment. Lectures will proceed through a discussion of insects as they broadly relate to the health and well being of humans, domestic animals with effort to include particularly important topics. Class discussion will concentrate on current themes related to insects with general lecture topics such as forensic entomology, emerging disease outbreaks, starvation and pesticides and insects from a socio-cultural perspective.
Required Texts:The required texts and readings for the course are the following:
(1) Bugs in the System: Insects and Their Impact on Human Affairs. 1995. M.R. Berenbaum. Addison-Wesley Publishing Co. Reading, MA 377 pp. This text can be purchased at Rhode Island Book Co., Kingston Emporium, Fortin Road.
(2) Selected readings will be placed on reserve at the University Library or will be handed out. These readings will provide recent summaries of material not adequately reviewed in most texts. They will be selected from journals such as Scientific American, Parasitology Today, The Journal of the American Medical Association and Science.
Schedule: TTh 12:30—1:45, BSC A105
Office Hours:TTh 2:00-3:00
Topics
1 Course Introduction: Why should we care about bugs?
2 Insect Microcosmos: What is that thing?
Classification and Nomenclature
3 Insect Microcosmos: They do what?
Physiology
Good things in small packages
Quick-change artistry
Sex, bugs and rock and roll
Designer genes and medicine
4 Insect Microcosmos: Behavior
Cheep thrills
Sights to behold
*EXAM*
5 Insect Microcosmos: Social Lives –
To bee or not to bee…
The joys of group living
6 Vegetarian Lifestyles: Green meals
Locust plagues
7 Odd Appetites: They eat what?
Insects as medicine
Human entomophagy
8 Parasites and Hosts: What’s eating you?
*MIDTERM EXAM*
9 Parasites and Hosts: Emerging Diseases - They carry what?
10 Insects and History: “ring around the rosie”
11 Insects and People: That bug is driving me crazy!
12 Insects and War: That thing is shooting at me!
13 Forensic Entomology: But when did he die?
14 Insect Appreciation: Take two of these and call me in the morning!
15 Insect Appreciation: Gone forever!
16 Films, Conversations, Websites and Review
*FINAL EXAM * May 11 3:00-6:00 BSC A-105
Evaluation and Grading:: Attendance is expected!
Information and important visuals are presented during each class and tested in each exam. If your schedule consistently will cause late arrival, you’ll have serious problems because WE START AT 12:30 SHARP!
Expected written assignments, exercises and short discussions occur during the first few minutes of class. Missed work counts as 0!!
Exams: There will be three exams during the semester; a prelim, a midterm and a final worth 25%, 35% and 40% respectively. All exams are cumulative and the final will, therefore, cover material from the entire semester (25% from the first half, 75% from the second).
There are NO MAKEUP EXAMS! These are unfair to those who prepared for, and took the exam on time. Make PRIOR arrangement for taking exams BEFORE scheduled dates, if necessary. **In a verifiable emergency, make serious effort to contact me and at least leave your phone number on my answering machine where you can be reached BEFORE the start of the exam! Or suffer the consequences of a zero in a major exam!
Also, do not come to me at the end of the semester and ask for an “Incomplete”. This designation is reserved for people who are passing the course, but are unable to finish the requirements by semester’s end. This primarily applies in the event of an extensive, medically validated absence.
Extra work to boost your grade at the end of the semester is not allowable. It is not fair to others who have done the work all along. Please don’t embarrass both of us by asking to do a 5-page paper to raise your score one letter grade.
Exams will consist of true/false, multiple choice and essay questions (short and long) that will measure your progress on the course objectives. Although questions may resemble each other in format, they do fall into different categories and require different study approaches. The three categories of questions asked are: 1) Memory questions, 2) Comprehension questions, and 3) Application questions. In order to illustrate the differences, I'll use the mosquito problem as an example.
Memory questions:
On this type of question, you will be asked to recognize, state or define material as it was presented during the lecture or readings. Therefore, you would need to memorize the names of malaria mosquitoes. For instance, I might ask you something like the following:
Sample:
We have discussed how female mosquitoes detect a host. Outline the three (3) ways (stimuli) in which a mosquito is attracted to you…the first one is long range, the second is medium range and the third is close range, ultimately leading to her sucking your blood.
Comprehension questions:
These questions ask you to show your understanding of a concept or principle by recognizing examples of it. It therefore becomes important to distinguish between memorizing and understanding. Memory questions will ask you to recall a definition of a concept or principle. A comprehension question requires that you recognize examples of concepts or principles. I would therefore give you a new example (one not discussed in class readings) and ask what principle or concept it represents. On the exam, I might ask something like this:
Sample:
The use of X-ray irradiated flies for pest management is an example of:
2) Neoplasia induction
3) Mutant proliferation
4) Environmental hazards
You certainly can't memorize an example that you've never seen; you have to understand the concepts and principles. One way is to put it into your own words and then create your own examples. If you read newspaper articles or watch T.V., nature programs, etc., ask you, "What is this an example of?” Get together with friends and quiz yourself; you will even be assigned to prepare your own multiple-choice exam!
Application questions:
The third type of question requires the application of basic concepts and principles to describe or analyze entomological problems. I'll give you a problem we have never discussed and ask you to either explain it or solve it. You'll have to determine which pieces of information are relevant, which concepts or principles are needed and then solve the problem. An example of this in essay form would be:
Sample 1:
During the past summer, there were a variety of ideas for suppressing the mosquito population. Some came from experts, others from homeowners fed up with the insect assault. Discuss one positive and one negative characteristic of the following suggested control measures:
2) Biological control - Spray with a microbial agent (B.t.i. - a bacterial pathogen)<
3) Mechanical control - Use a bug zapper in the backyard
4) Biological control - Import a predator from Europe
5) Biological control - Use a pheromone trap
An example of application type question in multiple guess form would be:
Sample 2:
The RI Dept. of Environmental Management has sent you a telegram requesting recommendations for the most rational approach to managing the mosquito population in RI As a bona fide entomologist, the buck has been passed to you. Your response would be the following:
2) Dear D.E.M., Start a site reduction program to reduce mosquito-breeding areas. In addition, develop an open water marsh management program for the long-term control of salt-marsh breeding species and halt the use of all pesticides.
3) Dear D.E.M., Begin immediate application of B.t.i. (a microbial agent and supplement with spot applications of a pesticide (Resmethrin) in heavily infested areas. This procedure should be continued until the biting counts are within acceptable levels. The microbial agent takes effect within a short time so pesticide application is needed for emergency areas.
4) Dear D.E.M., Use emergency personnel to apply several Insect Growth Regulators (IGR’s) to the primary wetlands in RI. In addition, use oils on the surface of the water to suffocate larvae not affected by the IGR’s.
5) Dear D.E.M., Initiate emergency evacuation of all RI residents to areas not known to have mosquito-breeding areas.
Past exams will help you appreciate the course approach. These are available to you at the reserve desk or on-line in the University Library. Should any problems arise, see me after class or during office hours.