Concise lecture on sound production in insects. Stridulation, forced air through spiracles, wing vibration, and tapping are all discussed with examples. Advantages and disadvantages of sound production are also discussed. The page also links to chemical, and visual communication pages.

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A good set of 84 PowerPoint slides detailing the structure of an insect from B.K. Mitchell and J.S. Scott. There are four sections, the insect head, thorax and abdomen, mouthparts and cockroach dissection. The individual slides have good graphics and narration explaining the structure discussed. This is a good resource for instructors putting together lectures on insect structure and morphology and students trying to understand insect structure.

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This is a chemistry course site with a thorough discussion of cantharidin, it's historical uses, insects producing it, and chemical structure. Also a nice discussion of the rather complex life history of meloids is covered. The site includes a nice assortment of references.

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A concise lesson about chemical communication in insects covering both semio and info chemicals. The site includes a short video of grape root borer moths using sex pheromone. Further links on the take the user to visual and auditory communication.

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The homepage of general entomology as taught by Dr. Bryan Danforth. Lecture topics are listed and most have PDF files of handouts or Power Points of the lectures attached for download. The focus of these lectures is on understanding insects, their form and function, life histories, and importance to our lives, health, and economy. A link to other entomology courses at Cornell is also provided.

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Interactive grasshopper anatomy lessons. Mouthparts, legs, abdomen, various sutures are all featured, as well as well as more general discussions about the types of insect antennae,wings, legs, and mouthparts. An excellent flash demonstration of mouthpart modifications is also featured.

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The best lecture on insect mouthparts currently available on the internet. An audio lecture introduces the subject followed by an interactive selection of insect mouthparts with descriptions and exploded views to demonstrate the evolution and adaptive radiation of these limbs.

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A ten module online entomology course highlighting importance of insects, taxonomy, anatomy, growth and development, internal anatomy and physiology, behavior, ecology, and IPM. Each module includes learning objectives, well illustrated reading material, lab information, review and quiz materials, and audio slide shows. This is probably the finest online entomology course available to date.

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Another of Dr. John Meyer's excellent webpages devoted to teaching general entomology. This page includes five links that take you to "spot ID" characters for insect orders and some families. This page has some excellent photographs detailing the significant characteristics and an interactive phylogenetic tree. A second link takes you to a summary by family of important characteristics. Further links show old tests and quizzes for study reference.

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A page from Dr. John Meyer's General Entomology course at NC State University detailing how insects defend themselves. Topics covered include speed, playing-dead, urticating hairs, chemical defenses, protective coloration and more.

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A short well illustrated page detailing four major insect hormones and their pathways, and effects. Prothoracicotropic, Ecdysone, and Juvenile hormone are treated here.

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A series of 28 lecture notes comprehensively covering the physiology of insects by Sean Putnam and David Stanley from University of Nebraska-Lincoln. This course is aimed at undergraduate college students but is an excellent resource for anyone wishing to read up on any aspect of insect physiology. There are links to good sketches and photographs to illustrate points and morphology made in the text. The laboratory link leads to a number of laboratories with a good introduction to each experiment and concise procedures.

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A Cornell University page including a PDF file of a Power Point lecture dealing with medical entomology. This lecture mainly details the importance of mosquitoes and lice, covering historical and well as current health issues, morphology, and life history. Links to many other to entomology topics are included on the page.

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A summary of insects of medical importance to humans along with the pathogens of interest. The page features good descriptions of plague, malaria, dengue, and others. Medical entomology terms are defined, some historical significance provided along with control measures. This is an excellent introductory resource.

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IPM lesson plans are divided into sections devoted to elementary school ages, middle school, and finally high school level. Topics range from recognizing arthropods and insects, to observing butterflies in the field, to understanding ecosystems, and pesticide regulations. As of this writing a few of the links to PDFs are not operating, but seem to direct to other university websites. The plans for the high school exercises are probably of most utility at the university level. The exercises are well designed; however, some of the activities relying on government web-sites may be cumbersome.

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This site contains factsheets, chemical information, and IPM resources, as well as tutorials, and modules for applicator licensing.

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These are for purchase animations meant for download to insert into a teaching curriculum. Topics covered include: Insect structure and function, muscle structure and contraction, insect cuticle structure, insect vision, and more. Previews of the animations are available and are narrated by Dr. Larry Keeley.

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Another of Dr. John Meyer's excellent entomology teaching pages. This one is a narrated slide show dealing with the insect orders. Twenty-six orders of adult insects are covered, and each one is highlighted with the distinctive characteristics for identification.

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This website provides a wonderful, light-hearted but scientifically sound introduction to entomology, taught by Cornell University's Department of Entomology. The entire course is presented, complete with syllabus, lectures, and various downloadable handouts. It features about 20 lecture topics spread over 28 class periods, with excellent visual aids that can be downloaded in PowerPoint format. The course emphasizes insect biology and insect interactions with humans. Lecture topics include insect diversity, development, vision, communication, pollination, pest management, predators and parasitoids, societies, vectors of disease, and more. The course assumes no previous exposure to insect biology.

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A primer on recognizing and controlling so-called "filth flies". Diptera commonly associated with trash, waste, and decay. The article covers common larger flies muscids, calliphorids, sarcophagids, as well as smaller fungus gnats, drain flies, and humpbacked flies (conspicuously missing are the soldier flies). Fly development, and biology are covered. No links, and no bibliography are offered.

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Facts and Theories on the Insect Head, Part 1. Audio recording accompanied by illustrated transcripts of lecture given in 1960 by seminal insect morphologist Robert E. Snodgrass. This lecture series covers the morphology and evolution of the insect head in two parts. Part I discusses the structures of the head and mouthparts, and begins to address the evolution of segmentation (continued in Part II). The web page is clear and easy to follow. The transcribed text makes it possible to follow along with the entire lecture even though parts of the audio file are difficult to hear. The text is clearly annotated to tell the reader when Snodgrass is using a figure, and those figures are labeled accurately and placed properly throughout the text. This is an excellent supplemental resource for anyone taking or teaching an insect morphology class. The lecture was moderated by William Bickley and transcribed by Jeffrey W. Shultz, Department of Entomology, University of Maryland.

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Facts and Theories on the Insect Head, Part 2. Audio recording accompanied by illustrated transcripts of lecture given in 1960 by seminal insect morphologist Robert E. Snodgrass. This lecture series covers the morphology and evolution of the insect head in two parts. Part I discusses the structures of the head and mouthparts, and begins to address the evolution of segmentation (continued in Part II). The web page is clear and easy to follow. The transcribed text makes it possible to follow along with the entire lecture even though parts of the audio file are difficult to hear. The text is clearly annotated to tell the reader when Snodgrass is using a figure, and those figures are labeled accurately and placed properly throughout the text. This is an excellent supplemental resource for anyone taking or teaching an insect morphology class. The lecture was moderated by William Bickley and transcribed by Jeffrey W. Shultz, Department of Entomology, University of Maryland.

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Evolution of the Arthropods. Audio recording accompanied by illustrated transcripts of lecture given in 1960 by seminal insect morphologist Robert E. Snodgrass. In this 3rd lecture of the series Dr. Snodgrass discusses the evolution of the arthropod body plan from a phylogenetic perspective. The lecture also covers the phylogeny of Hexapoda and the diversity and evolution of insect appendages compared to those of ancestral arthropods. The web page is clear and easy to follow. The transcribed text makes it possible to follow along with the entire lecture even though parts of the audio file are difficult to hear. The text is clearly annotated to tell the reader when Snodgrass is using a figure, and those figures are labeled accurately and placed properly throughout the text. This is an excellent supplemental resource for anyone taking or teaching an insect morphology class. The lecture was moderated by William Bickley and transcribed by Jeffrey W. Shultz, Department of Entomology, University of Maryland.

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Historical and evolutionary basis and discussion of mimicry. The ecological and genetic basis are discussed as well as some details about speciation. These are excellent introductory lecture notes, but are lacking in illustrations.

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