Homeschool Entomology resources

NC State general entomology course materials
https://www.cals.ncsu.edu/course/ent425/course/index.html

We ordered the following books:

How to Know the Insects (Pictured Key Nature Series) 3rd Edition

by Roger G. Bland (Author), H. E. Jaques (Author)

The Insects: An Outline of Entomology 3rd Edition

by P. J. Gullan (Author), P. S. Cranston (Author)

and are using this app
http://www.audubonguides.com/field-guides/insects-spiders-nature-app.html

For ethical reasons, we are substituting catching, identifying, photographing and releasing insects rather than collecting them.

We are using the Purdue university 4H flashcards to sort and practice identifying insects to order level
https://mdc.itap.purdue.edu/item.asp?Item_Number=ID-411-W#.VrkKtlIe3hU

We also purchased several sets of toy insects, plus whatever was lurking in my daughter's room, and practiced identifying them to order level. (This is also helpful in sorting "insect" and "not insect", since about half the creatures in our sets that were labeled "insects" were arachnids or annelids)

There is also an app for this
https://mdc.itap.purdue.edu/item.asp?Item_Number=ID-401-APP#.VrkK6FIe3hU

So far, we have kept/observed the following live insects/arachnids. Most of these are insects that we have friends who keep as feeders or pets, so we could get some for a short time and have a place to send them back to. The house spider volunteered to be observed by crawling across the floor and attracting the cat's attention. He'll eventually be released into a closet or some other safe place to be a spider without four legged predators around.

Mealworms/Darkling beetles Tenebrio molitor

 


Superworms/beetles-Zophobas morio 

House cricket-Acheta domesticus
  
Lesser Wax Moth (Achroia grisella)

Madagascar Hissing Cockroach (Gromphadorhina portentosa)
Brown House Spider (Steatoda grossa)

We also observed and did a behavior lab with isopods:
Pillbugs (Armadillidium vulgare)


Online virtual dissections

Cockroach

http://www.orkin.com/cockroaches/virtual-roach/

Lab instructions

https://www.cals.ncsu.edu/course/ent425/library/labs/internal_anatomy/index.html

Grasshopper
http://www.ent.iastate.edu/ref/anatomy/ihop/

Lab instructions

http://www.biologyjunction.com/grasshopper_dissection.htm 

We ordered these arthropod models from Amazon to build and compare
Tarantula model

Scorpion model

Lab instructions-
Hissing cockroach behavior lab
homepages.gac.edu/~jwotton2/.../COCKROACH%20BEHAVIOR3.doc

Animal behavior using arthropods
www.ableweb.org/volumes/vol-3/7-larsen.pdf

Isopod behavior (AP Bio lab)

http://www.biologycorner.com/worksheets/isopod_behavior_lab.html


Labs for Mealworms:
Virtual lab
http://www.mhhe.com/biosci/genbio/virtual_labs/BL_19/BL_19.html  

Behavior labs
https://www.coursehero.com/file/12444232/Mealworm-Behavior-Worksheet-1/
www2.guilford.k12.ct.us/sites/hayashk/documents/MealwormLabs13.pdf
www.akronschools.org/cms/lib/.../mealworm_behavior_lab2010.doc 
Elementary level lab using mealworms and earthworms
http://www.uen.org/Lessonplan/preview.cgi?LPid=16288 

Cricket lab activities
Virtual cricket lab
https://web.archive.org/web/20140904140044/https://www.gc.maricopa.edu/biology/glacier/scientific_method/index.swf
Worksheet to accompany virtual lab
http://www.biologycorner.com/worksheets/crickets_chirp.html

Cricket ethology lab
www.gregwieland.com/Animal/IntroductionMethods/Cricket_Lab.doc
Cricket behavior lecture
www.reed.edu/...syllabus/2010.../Cricket_lecture_Bio342.pdf 

Scarab Beetles and Hercules Beetles

https://coleoptera2014.wordpress.com/category/uncategorized/

http://museum.unl.edu/research/entomology/Scarabs-for-Kids/scarabs.html

Hercules Beetle anatomy model


Drosophila breeding/genetics lab. 

E-mind fly (subscription)

http://www.emindweb.com/products.php