ENTOMOLOGY: HISTORY, WHAT IT STUDIES AND RESEARCH - BIOLOGY - 2024

The entomology is the branch of biological science that is responsible for the study of insects. This extensive class of arthropods comprises one of the most diverse and abundant groups of animals, having managed to colonize all possible environments.

The study of insects is fundamental to science. Not only to understand and describe this huge group, but also to be applied in agriculture, medicine and even forensic science.

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Entomology is a science that dates back to prehistoric times. Many famous naturalists have dedicated part of their careers to the study of various aspects of insects, such as the father of evolutionary biology, Charles Darwin.

History

It is estimated that entomology was born in parallel with agriculture, so its origin dates from prehistoric times. For the first farmers, it was essential to get to know their pests in order to effectively eradicate them.

The formal study of insects was born in the 16th century. The father and founder of this branch of zoology is William Kirby, author of indispensable texts of the area.

After its establishment as a science, entomology began to grow exponentially. Hundreds of scientists focused their careers on the study of the diverse world of insects.

Many famous naturalists were related to insects, including Charles Darwin, Vladimir Nabokov, Edward Wilson, just to name a few.

What does entomology study? (Field of study)

Entomology is the part of zoology in charge of studying insects or hexapods from different points of view. They include aspects of its ecology, morphology, parasitology, physiology, systematics, among others.

It is a science of immense relevance in the world of biology, since it is estimated that three quarters of animals belong to this class of arthropods.

In fact, their diversity is so extraordinary that they outnumber humans by 200 million to 1. In the arthropod phylum, insects account for 93%.

Branches

Specialization

Entomologists can specialize in a single order or a family of insects. The following are the subspecialties of entomology, whose names are derived from the scientific name of the group they study:

• Coleopterology - Coleoptera
• Dipterology - Flies
• Isopterology - Termites
• Odonatology - Dragonflies and damselflies
• Hemipterology - Hemiptera
• Lepidopterology - Moths and Butterflies
• Melithology (or apiology) - Bees
• Myrmecoloia - Ants
• Orthopterology - Grasshoppers, crickets, etc.
• Tricopterology - osMcas caddis
• Vespology - Wasps.

Recent Research Examples

Investigations in

In the biological sciences, few organisms have been as studied as the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. Countless investigations have been carried out using this small flying insect as a model organism.

For example, the discovery of the Hox genes led to the genetic understanding of morphological diversity in animals, and the fruit fly was a crucial piece for this discovery. The Hox genes caused a reshaping of ideas in evolutionary biology, channeling the emergence of a new science: evo-devo.

Dozens of articles were published on this topic. We can highlight the classical investigations of Hox genes in Drosophila melanogaster, carried out by McGinnis and Krumlauf in 1992, and published in the journal Cell, up to the investigations of Stark et al. In 2008.

Research on disease vectors

A significant number of insects are very important disease vectors in the medical field. For this reason, entomologists have focused their attention on various ways to control insect vector populations.

A study carried out by Bian and colleagues in 2013, concluded that a possible method to control populations of malaria vector insects is the use of the bacterium Wolbachia. This bacterium is transmitted through the mother and is a symbiont of various arthropods.

It was previously known that infection with Wolbachia renders Aedes vectors resistant to dengue virus. For this reason, Bian and colleagues tried to prove that the bacteria also interfered with the development of parasites that cause malaria.

The authors of this work, published in the renowned scientific journal Science, concluded that certain strains of Wolbachia conferred resistance to mosquitoes that transmit malaria to humans.

Insects as bioindicators

Various species of insects are very useful as bioindicators of water quality, whether in rivers or lakes. If we observe certain species, we can conclude with some certainty that the area we are observing has not been intervened and that the water quality is optimal.

In particular, freshwater macroinvertebrates are excellent biological indicators of water quality, since they are distributed in all bodies of water, are very sensitive to the presence of toxins, and react quickly to them, disappearing from the ecosystem.

A study carried out in 2013 and published in the Mexican journal of Biodiversity, aimed to explore how aquatic insects can be used as indicators of water quality in a Mexican river.

The authors of the work, led by Barba-Álvarez, found that the bodies of water evaluated in their study had an acceptable or good water quality. This they could deduce thanks to the presence of individuals belonging to the orders Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera.

As reported in the literature, the increase in the richness of these insect orders translates into a proportional increase in the good health of the river, or body of water evaluated.

Applications of entomology

Different sciences have taken advantage of the knowledge of entomology. Farmers have used it since time immemorial for pest control. Entomology is indispensable for the identification of effective tools that can help with the elimination of the unwanted insect.

In the same way, beekeepers use the principles of entomology to improve the production of their products, call it honey, waxes, among others.

Medical entomology seeks to determine the insects that affect man and that are potential vectors of disease. There is also veterinary entomology, which studies insects that attack pets and other domestic animals.

Forensic entomology is a science that allows the use and identification of insects found at the crime scene to estimate the date of death of the individual.

Also, if certain endemic insect species of a particular region are identified in an object of forensic interest (eg, insects in a car), one can estimate where it was recently.

References

1. Barba-Álvarez, R., De la Lanza-Espino, G., Contreras-Ramos, A., & González-Mora, I. (2013). Aquatic insects indicators of water quality in Mexico: case studies, Copalita, Zimatán and Coyula rivers, Oaxaca. Mexican Journal of Biodiversity, 84 (1), 381-383.
2. Bian, G., Joshi, D., Dong, Y., Lu, P., Zhou, G., Pan, X.,… & Xi, Z. (2013). Wolbachia invades Anopheles stephensi populations and induces refractoriness to Plasmodium infection. Science, 340 (6133), 748-751.
3. Brusca, RC, & Brusca, GJ (2005). Invertebrates. Madrid: McGraw-Hill.
4. McGinnis, W., & Krumlauf, R. (1992). Homeobox genes and axial patterning. Cell, 68 (2), 283-302.
5. Stark, A., Bushati, N., Jan, CH, Kheradpour, P., Hodges, E., Brennecke, J.,… & Kellis, M. (2008). A single Hox locus in Drosophila produces functional microRNAs from opposite DNA strands. Genes & development, 22 (1), 8-13.