Course code:

ES3100

Level:

M - Intermediate

Class size limit:

12

Meets the following requirements:

  • ES - Environmental Science

Lab fee:

1500

Typically offered:

Upon occasion

Insects are the dominant animals in nearly all terrestrial ecosystems. However, in places like Maine, their abundance, diversity, and impact are not always apparent to the casual observer. This is not so in the tropics! Nowhere else are insects as large, showy, and numerous. Costa Rica is home to at least 300,000 species of insects, approximately one third of all described insect species. We will travel to and observe insects in a Caribbean slope rainforest, pre-montane forest, montane cloud forest, Pacific slope dry forest, Pacific wet forest, and Pacific beach/marine communities. Non-travel days will typically consist of early to late-morning field time, afternoon lectures or discussions followed by early evening to late night field time.

Students will spend extensive time in the field learning and practicing insect identification to the order and family level, observing insect behavior, and studying interspecies interactions. Reading and discussion topics will include insect conservation and declines, relationships between insects and plants, humans, and other animals, and control of agricultural and medical insect pest species. Particular attention will be paid to leafcutter ants, army ants, and other ecologically and culturally significant species. The course schedule will complement the content taught in Introduction to Tropical Field Ecology and will be reinforced through assignments in the Field Journal course. Introductory Entomology is helpful but not a prerequisite.

This course is part of a three-credit expeditionary program in neotropical field ecology. Students must enroll in all three courses.

Prerequisites:

Co-enrollment in ES3099 Introduction to Tropical Field Ecology and MD1032 The Art and Practice of the Natural History Field Journal, and permission of instructor.

Always visit the Registrar's Office for the official course catalog and schedules.