ENY 4453 -- BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY AND SYSTEMATICS OF INSECTS
updated January 2005
Instructor and Office Hours:
Dr. Marc Branham
Room 2005, Entomology-Nematology Building
TEL 352 1901 ext. 141
FAX 352 392-0190
EMAIL: MABranham@ifas.ufl.edu
Teaching Assistant:
Seth Bybee
Room 2114, Entomology-Nematology Building
FAX 352 392-0190
EMAIL: seth.bybee@gmail.com
Course Objective:
The goal of this course is to provide you with a sound theoretical and
practical understanding of behavioral ecology and how phylogenetic
methods can be employed to develop hypotheses of how various characters
(whether morphological or behavioral) have evolved. While the course is
not a class on “Phylogenetic methods” it is meant to teach students
what a powerful tool phylogeny reconstruction is and the types of
studies (and questions) it can be applied to. Furthermore, I have
decided not to limit the coverage of the course to the behavior ecology
of insects. Many interesting and amazing studies in behavioral ecology
have been done with non-insect organisms and the lessons they teach us
can be applied to insect systems in the future.
Final Grading Scale:
100-90 A
89-85 B+
84-80 B
79-75 C+
74-70 C
69-65 D+
64-60 D
59-0 E
Attendance:
Students are responsible for all material distributed in and/or
discussed in class. In the case of skipped classes, students are
advised to obtain lecture notes and handouts from classmates unless
there is a legitimate excuse, in which case I will be happy to help.
Make-ups are not given except under circumstances of excused absence.
Letting me know of a conflict or problem ahead of time may be all it
takes to reach an arrangement.
UF Policy on E-mail:
“Official University business email will be communicated to students
using the University GatorLink email account. That is, official email
will be sent exclusively to GatorLinkUserName@ufl.edu. The preferred
email address recorded for all students will be the GatorLink address.
This is the email address displayed in the online phonebook. Students
may continue to use the forwarding mechanism to deliver their email to
other mail services, if they wish. However, it is the student’s
responsibility to insure that the forwarding address is current so that
they receive official communications from the University”.
Additional General Information: The
following
information applies to all courses at the University of Florida.We,
the members of the University of Florida
community,
pledge to hold ourselves and our peers to the highest standard of
honesty and
integrity.
Academic Honesty: As a
result of completing the
registration form at the University of Florida, every student has
signed the following statement: "I
understand that the University of Florida expects its students to be
honest in all their academic work. I agree to adhere to this commitment
to
academic honesty and understand that my failure to comply with this
commitment may result in disciplinary action up to and including
expulsion
from the University.
Copyrighted Materials and Software Use:
All
students
are
required and expected to obey the laws and legal agreements governing
copyrighted
material and software use. Failure to do so can lead to monetary
damages and/or criminal penalties for the individual violator. Because
such
violations are also against University policies and rules, disciplinary
action will be taken as appropriate.
Accommodations for Students with
Disabilities:
Students
requesting classroom accommodation must first register with the Dean of
Students
Office. The Dean of Students will provide documentation to the student
who must then provide this documentation to the Instructor when
requesting accommodation.
University Counseling Services: Resources are available on-campus for students having personal problems or lacking clear career and academic goals which interfere with their academic performance. These resources include:
1. University Counseling Center,
301 Peabody Hall,
392-1575,
personal and career counseling;
2. Student Mental Health, Student Health Care Center, 392-1171,
personal counseling;
3. Sexual Assault Recovery Services (SARS), Student Health Care Center,
392-1161, sexual counseling; and
4. Career Resource Center, Reitz Union, 392-1601, career development
assistance and counseling.