BIMETD: Entomology: Techniques and Identification

Module code: BIMETD

Module provider: School of Biological Sciences

Credits: 40

ECTS credits: 20

Level: 7

When you’ll be taught: Full year

Module convenor: Dr Chris Foster, email: c.w.foster@reading.ac.uk

Module co-convenor: Dr Andrew Bladon, email: a.j.bladon@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2026/7

Available to visiting students: No

Talis reading list: No

Last updated: 25 March 2026

Overview

Module aims and purpose

This module aims to introduce students to the wide variety of skills and techniques associated with entomological research, with a particular focus on:  

• Entomological field skills including collecting techniques and an understanding of insect ecology and behaviour.
• Insect identification, including taxonomy and classification, associated laboratory skills and the use of identification resources
• The creation and maintenance of insect collections for scientific study, including insect setting and staging techniques. 

The module is highly practical and nearly all the learning will be based in the field, including on our award-winning Whiteknights campus, in our dedicated entomology teaching laboratory, and at the Natural History Museum in London. In keeping with this approach all elements of assessment will be practical based. Students will be expected to develop broad expertise in insect identification and, through the main insect collection assignment, specialist knowledge of one or more insect groups.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Identify insects to order, suborder and family.
2. Develop specialist knowledge in one or more insect groups, including identification of species and knowledge of their ecology, diversity and distribution. 
3. Apply a variety of field entomology skills including specimen collection, and insect survey.
4. Present, preserve and catalogue insects for scientific purposes.

Module content

The module will consist of face-to-face teaching in both the laboratory and the field. Lab sessions take place in a dedicated facility where students will have time and space to develop their skills by working on their own insect collections. Students will be provided with a starter kit at the beginning of the academic year containing all the items required to construct the collection, have access to a substantial library of identification resources and will also have access to reference collections in the Cole Museum of Zoology and at the Natural History Museum to support their learning.

Field trips in the first semester will focus on insect collecting and survey in addition to habitat observations of insect ecology and behaviour. A series of workshops will introduce the main techniques for mounting, preserving and cataloguing insect specimens for study, using specimens collecting on the field trips. A further series of workshops, mostly led by expert curators at the Natural History Museum, will introduce the main insect orders and major families, focusing on identification and taxonomy.

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

The module will consist of a series of practical demonstrations, workshops, field trips and self-driven learning with expert guidance. 

Study hours

At least 100 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 50% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each calendar day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three calendar days;
• where the piece of work is submitted up to three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in you Individual Learning Plan), the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three calendar days of the deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three calendar days after the original deadline (or a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment indicated in your Individual Learning Plan): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

Where a piece of work is submitted late after a deadline which has been revised owing to an extension granted through the Assessment Adjustments policy and process (self-certified or otherwise), it will be subject to the maximum penalty (i.e., considered to be more than three calendar days late). This will also apply when such an extension is used in conjunction with a DAS-agreed extension as a reasonable adjustment.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Formative tests will take place at least one week in advance of each summative test  

Interim formative feedback on the insect collection assignment will be given in each semester.

Reassessment

Additional costs