Current Courses

Insect Biodiversity Research Seminar, Spring 2027

Instructors: Keith Willmott, Akito Kawahara, Vaughn Shirey

Course description

The primary goal of this course is to provide an opportunity for students to undertake authentic, hands-on primary research on insect biodiversity. Life is the unique feature of our planet, and perhaps the universe, and understanding the origins and diversity of life, or biodiversity, represents one of our greatest challenges. The majority of species on Earth are insects, with estimates of their diversity ranging into tens of millions. As such, they play key roles in the functioning of natural ecosystems and provide ecosystem services worth billions of dollars annually. Research on insects therefore not only provides numerous opportunities to better understand the origins and maintenance of all biodiversity, but also has practical applications for society.

This course will address three main areas of research relevant to understanding insect diversity – systematics, the science of describing and classifying organisms; macroevolution, the study of broad evolutionary patterns; and macroecology, the study of biological communities across space and time. How do we know how many insect species there are? How do we study and understand their evolutionary history? Why are some lineages of insects hyperdiverse? Why does insect diversity vary so dramatically across latitudes, altitudes, and climatic zones? How do insect distributions and communities change over time? We will tackle these questions from both practical and theoretical perspectives, discussing the tools and data available to biodiversity researchers, from museum collections to citizen science data. We will consider issues in data gathering and analysis, and evaluate competing hypotheses, in the process gaining a deeper appreciation for the scientific process. With widespread evidence for declining insect populations, documenting and understanding insect distributions and trends has never been more urgent.

Class sessions will include talks by instructors and other researchers and discussions of primary scientific literature. Students will also conduct a mentored, independent research project (under ENY4911 Supervised Research) and give a presentation on their results at the end of the semester.

Previous Courses

Biology of Butterflies

(co-taught with Andrei Sourakov)

Spring, 2026, 1 credit, IDH3931/ENY4905

Insects and Plants

(co-taught with Andrei Sourakov and Thomas Emmel)

Spring, 2025, 1 credit, IDH3931/ENY4905
Fall, 2023, 1 credit, IDH3931/ENY4905
Fall, 2022, 1 credit, IDH3931/ENY4905
Fall, 2021, 1 credit, IDH3931/ENY4905
Fall, 2020, 1 credit, IDH3931/ENY4905
Fall, 2019, 1 credit, IDH3931/ENY4905
Fall 2017, 1 credit, IDH3931/ENY4905
Fall 2015, 1 credit, IDH3931/ENY4905
Spring 2015, 1 credit, IDH3931/ENY4905

Insects and Plants Lab

(co-taught with Andrei Sourakov)

Spring, 2025, 1 credit, IDH4912

Research in Insect Biodiversity

(co-taught with Akito Kawahara)

Fall 2015, 1-2 credits, ENY 4905/BSC 2930

Evolutionary Biogeography

(co-taught with Nico Cellinese)

Spring 2014, 3 credits, PCB6675C, BOT6935, ZOO6927
Spring 2011, 3 credits, BOT 6935/6554.

Biology of Lepidoptera

(co-taught with Andrei Sourakov)

Spring 2012, 1 credit, ENY 4905/6934.
Spring 2010, 1 credit, ENY 4905/6934.

Macroecology

Spring 2008, 1 credit, ZOO 4926/6927.

Insect Biogeography

Fall 2018, 1 credit, ENY 6934.
Spring 2013, 1 credit, ENY 4905/6934.
Spring 2009, 1 credit, ENY 4905/6934.
Spring 2007, 2 credits, ENY 4905/6934.