Developing your Skills in Entomology

Insects are fascinating creatures: many are attractive, and have amazing life histories and behaviour. They also play important roles in ecosystems, for example in pollinating plants and providing food for birds, making the decline of many insect species a cause for concern. Using a mix of field work, microscopes and identification keys this course will explore the huge variety of insects. We’ll help you find and identify insects, and explore their ecology and conservation.

We’ll aim to identify everything we find to Order, most to Family, many to Genus and quite a lot to Species level! Guidance will be given on why, when and how to collect and curate insect specimens for identification, and we will also explore the options for photographing and identifying live insects.