Contents
Preface
Why this book
Features of world domination
References
Chapter 1 An Introduction to Insects: Busting the Myths, Lies and Urban
Legends
Overview
Key Concepts
No better time than now to find out what an insect actually is!
Who cares about insects, or why study them damn bugs?
Insects are the most successful animals on the planet
Insects are bad, bad, bad!
What I have learned on my own: Insects are way cool
How do you know it is not a spider?
""Bugs"" vs. insects. The importance of knowing what you are talking
about
Chapter Review
Mushroom Farming (Self test)
References
The Entomologist Bookshelf
Additional Resources
Chapter 2 History of Entomology: a discipline founded on death
Overview
Key Concepts
Unwelcomed guests since the beginning of the human 'party'
Insect plagues and deities in ancient and modern civilizations
Naturalists, physicians and the clergy: An intriguing new pinup
calendar or prominent figures in entomology?
Politicians at work: two acts of congress established entomology in
North America
War anyone? Insects have been the true victors of most wars
Evolution of entomology: insects as tools for biology, agriculture and
war
Chapter Review
Mushroom Farming (Self test)
References
The Entomologist Bookshelf
Additional Resources
Chapter 3 Insects are not all bad: beneficial aspects of insect-human
interactions
Overview
Key Concepts
Insects as our 'friends'
From bee puke to scale poop: useful insect products
Oh the wonderful things that insects does!
Insects got class: cultural influences of six-legged creatures
A religious experience
Laws, litigation, and insects as evidence
Chapter Review
Mushroom Farming (Self test)
References
The Entomologist Bookshelf
Additional Resources
Chapter 4 Insects shaping human civilization: turns out they might be bad
after all
Overview
Key Concepts
You're making it tough to be friends!
What does it mean to be an insect pest?
Why are they so good at being bad?
Where has all the food gone? Agricultural pests
Lets live together: Household pests
They just 'bug' me: Annoying insects
Insects, disease and human civilizations: Medically important pests
Implications for modern societies
Chapter Review
Mushroom Farming (Self test)
References
The Entomologist Bookshelf
Additional Resources
Chapter 5 'Dressed' for success: the insect body plan
Overview
Key Concepts
Jointed, boneless, and proud of it: An introduction to the Phylum
Arthropoda
Arthropods are old!
Insects and their kin
Phylogenetic surf 'n' turf: Arthropods dominate land and sea
Less is more: Characteristics of the Insecta
Why have insects been so successful?
Chapter Review
Mushroom Farming (Self test)
References
The Entomologist Bookshelf
Additional Resources
Chapter 6 The insect's new cloths: growing by shedding
Overview
Key Concepts
Crunchy on the outside, gooey on the inside
Eat, grow, shed: the development plan
The insect's new clothes: exoskeleton
What to do when your pants don't fit: molt
To metamorphose, or not metamorphose, that is the question
Chapter Review
Mushroom Farming (Self test)
References
The Entomologist Bookshelf
Additional Resources
Chapter 7 Insect Facebook: the basics of insect classification
Overview
Key Concepts
Why should I care how to identify an insect?
Thank you Linnaeus! binomial classification
Insect crib notes: key features used to identify adult insects
Insect diversity
Classification by taste: Seriously?
Chapter Review
Mushroom Farming (Self test)
References
The Entomologist Bookshelf
Additional Resources
Chapter 8 Insects are phat but not fat: diet, nutrition, and food assimilation
Overview
Key Concepts
What's on the menu? Nutrient requirements of insects
Tools of the trade: Structures used for food collection
Why insects don't get fat but people do
Eating 'crap' makes sense! Food processing depends on what was
eaten
It is only efficient if you can use it: Food assimilation
Chapter Review
Mushroom Farming (Self test)
References
The Entomologist Bookshelf
Additional Resources
Chapter 9 Sex in the city and everywhere else: insect reproductive strategies
Overview
Key Concepts
Sex or no sex: methods of reproduction used by insects
Evolving sex: adaptive tradeoffs of sexual reproductive strategies
Insects are sexually dimorphic inside and out
CCC: Calling, courting and copulation
The kings (queens) of fertilization
Get me out of here: methods of egg dispersal
And know for something completely different: novelty behaviors
Chapter Review
Mushroom Farming (Self test)
References
The Entomologist Bookshelf
Additional Resources
Chapter 10 You can teach an insect new tricks: learning and memory in six-
legged beasts
Overview
Key Concepts
Darwin and insect behavior
Ganglionic architecture: new age building designs or the key to insect
neurological functions?
The genetic basis for learning, memory, and innateness
Born to do it: innate behaviors
Learning in insects: there is no remedial class!
How insects can tell its raining and other environmental fun facts
Chapter Review
Mushroom Farming (Self test)
References
The Entomologist Bookshelf
Additional Resources
Chapter 11 Instant messaging in the insect world: communication with kin
and non-kin
Overview
Key Concepts
Communication is the key to every successful relationship
The basics of insect communication
Visual displays, camouflage, and mimicry
Insect phonics: auditory messages in the insect world.
Whiff this! Chemical communication
Chemical dependency: on being a social insect
Interspecies chemical communication
Chapter Review
Mushroom Farming (Self test)
References
The Entomologist Bookshelf
Additional Resources
Chapter 12 Small but fortified: insects are not defenseless
Overview
Key Concepts
What are insects afraid of? Predatory and parasitic threats.
Hide and seek: the use of camouflage and mimicry to stay alive.
Behavioral tactics to combat predators and parasites.
Chemicals to the rescue: allelochemicals.
Keep out! The role of the exoskeleton in protection from parasites.
Oh those wonderful hemocytes!
Chapter Review
Mushroom Farming (Self test)
References
The Entomologist Bookshelf
Additional Resources
Chapter 13 Life on the edge: coping with stress
Overview
Key Concepts
Talk about stressed: 24/7, 365 days a year
Dealing with stress on a typical day: general stress responses
Environmental tokens tell the tale of impending changes
Seasonality and insect life history traits
Genetic regulation of seasonal survival
Coping with the unknown: aseasonality
Chapter Review
Mushroom Farming (Self test)
References
The Entomologist Bookshelf
Additional Resources
Chapter 14 Revenge of the humans: insects as the hunted
Overview
Key Concepts
A few bad apples: insects that are pests
Insect control before the advent of electricity
The golden age of killing: insecticides and death
Silent Spring and the end to the eradication dream
Sustainability and management: a new way of proceeding
Towers of death, scents of love, and recombinant weapons: tools of the
21st Century
Chapter Review
Mushroom Farming (Self test)
References
The Entomologist Bookshelf
Additional Resources
Chapter 15 Forensic Entomology: insects as tools in legal investigations
Overview
Key Concepts
Murder, termites and weevils: the many faces of forensic entomology
There's a fly in my soup: should I sue?
Home invasion: matters for urban entomology
Maggots, murder and men
The fly who loved me: myiasis and cases of neglect
Maggots on crack: agents of toxicology
Chapter Review
Mushroom Farming (Self test)
References
The Entomologist Bookshelf
Additional Resources
Chapter 16 Insect mercenaries: weapons for human warfare and national
security
Overview
Key Concepts
Historical perspectives of entomological weaponry
Insects as agents of terror
Whiff this: insect sniffer systems
Insect espionage: cyborgs and surveillance
An insect for an insect: entomological counterterrorism
Chapter Review
Mushroom Farming (Self test)
References
The Entomologist Bookshelf
Additional Resources
Chapter 17 Invasive and elusive: new insect threats to the human condition
Overview
Key Concepts
How can there be new threats today?
Same old story: accidental introduction
Impact of human interference: non-accidental introductions
Insect activity following natural disasters
Global warming, climate change, and insects
Chapter Review
Mushroom Farming (Self test)
References
The Entomologist Bookshelf
Additional Resources
Appendix
Sources of insects
Sources of insect materials
Sources of insect-related paraphernalia