The course tries to remove ​‘insect- disgust’ among students. It creates awareness about the breath-taking diversity of insects around us — there are, after all close to 1 million species and they are by far the most diverse group of animals on the planet. 

Insect impact human affairs-pollinator services that insects provide help to put food on our table. Insects also act as pest and pest control agents, cause diseases, and are decomposers. Insects are going to be the next superfood. 

This course attempts to give an overview of all of the above aspects. In addition, the course also illustrates how insects are similar to humans in tasks that they do such as finding food, taking care of young ones, finding mates, learning to adapt to novel environments, etc. Insects are also the first taxa to start agriculture, use antibiotics, and live in societies! 

Although this course is largely about insects, examples of spiders wherever appropriate will be given. This course is mostly for non-biology majors, but biology majors can also take this course if the timetable permits.

Open electives have no pre-requisites and are designed so that students from any
disciplinary background can take them. The electives offered in the biology programme will typically have introductory biology as a pre-requisite, but this particular open elective
doesn’t have such a pre-requisite. 

Students in various disciplinary majors will benefit from this course because they will know the fascinating aspects of common insects around them. Additionally, they will learn to appreciate nature through an insect-centric lens.