Laboratory Activities using Bean Beetles

A model organism for inquiry-based undergraduate laboratories

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Laboratory Activities

Inquiry-Based Learning

Curriculum Network

This website is supported by National Science Foundation Grants, DUE-0535903, DUE-0815135, and DUE-0814373 to Morehouse College and Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Tested Laboratory Activities using Bean Beetles, Callosobruchus maculatus

Animal Behavior

Natal Bean Discrimination by Bean Beetles

Christopher W. Beck, Emory University and Lawrence S. Blumer, Morehouse College
Topic: Reproductive Behavior

Level: Non-majors – Upper-level majors

Class time: one 2-3 hour class period, plus 1 hour class period 48 hours (or as late as one week) later

Consequences of Natal Bean Discrimination by Bean Beetles

Christopher W. Beck, Emory University and Lawrence S. Blumer, Morehouse College
Topic: Reproductive Behavior

Level: Upper-level majors

Class time: one 2-3 hour class period, plus 1 hour class period 48 hours (or as late as one week) later, 15 minutes daily for 2 weeks about 4 weeks later

Oviposition Substrate Choice by Bean Beetles

Lawrence S. Blumer, Morehouse College and Christopher W. Beck, Emory University
Topic: Reproductive Behavior

Level: Non-majors – Upper-level majors

Class time: one 2-3 hour class period, plus 1 hour class period 48 hours (or as late as one week) later

Consequences of Oviposition Substrate Choice by Bean Beetles

Lawrence S. Blumer, Morehouse College and Christopher W. Beck, Emory University
Topic: Reproductive Behavior

Level: Upper-level majors

Class time: one 2-3 hour class period, plus 1 hour class period 48 hours (or as late as one week) later, 15 minutes daily for 2 weeks about 4 weeks later

Substrate Size Selection by Bean Beetles

Christopher W. Beck, Emory University, Saphida Migabo, University of Northern British Columbia and Lawrence S. Blumer, Morehouse College
Topic: Reproductive Behavior

Level: Non-majors – Upper-level majors

Class time: one 1-2 hour class period, plus 1 hour class period 48 hours (or as late as one week) later

Ecology

Intraspecific Competition in Bean Beetles

Christopher W. Beck, Emory University and Lawrence S. Blumer, Morehouse College
Topic: Intraspecific Competition

Level: Introductory majors – Upper-level majors

Class time: one 2-3 hour class period, plus 1 hour class period 48 hours (or as late as one week) later, 15 minutes daily for 2 weeks about 4 weeks later

Effects of Resource Limitation on Bean Beetle Reproductive Strategies

Mary Byrne and Kimberly Heiman, Muhlenberg College

Topic: Reproductive Behavior, Ecology

Level: Introductory majors – Upper-level majors

Class time: One 2-3 hour class period plus 2-3 hours one week later

Evolution

Inducing Evolution in Bean Beetles

Lawrence S. Blumer, Morehouse College and Christopher W. Beck, Emory University
Topic: Evolution and Natural Selection

Level: Introductory majors – Upper-level majors

Class time: one 2-3 hour class period, plus 1 hour class period two weeks later, and one 2-3 hour class period about 4 weeks later

Rapid Adaptation of Bean Beetles to a Novel Host

Christopher W. Beck, Emory University and Lawrence S. Blumer, Morehouse College
Topic: Evolution

Level: Upper-level majors

Class time: one 2-3 hour class period, plus 1 hour class period 48 hours later, 15 minutes daily for 2 weeks about 4 weeks later

Physiology

Sensory Detection by Bean Beetles

Barbara Musolf, Clayton State University
Topic: Sensory Systems

Level: Introductory – Intermediate- majors

Class time: One class period of 1.5 hours to set up experiment and another class period of 2 hours to collect and analyze data. The experiment runs 48 hours and for a once a week lab, students can remove the beetles at that time and collect their data on their assigned lab day.

Maternal Investment in Bean Beetles

Karen Gastreich and Gregory Fitch, Avila University
Topic: Reproductive Physiology

Level: Intermediate or upper-level majors

Class time:

Discussion (either in lecture or in a lab period prior to the one in which the experiment is designed) of the natural history of bean beetles and of parental reproductive investment strategies (50 minutes)

Laboratory period in which beetles are mated and placed on new beans (75 minutes)

Second laboratory period in which egg number data (75 minutes) and/or egg size data (90 minutes) are gathered

Follow up discussion (either in lecture or in a subsequent lab period) (20 minutes)

Last Updated: 28 August 2011

Copyright © by Lawrence S. Blumer and Christopher W. Beck, 2011. All rights reserved. The content of this site may be freely used for non-profit educational purposes, with proper acknowledgement of the source. All other uses are prohibited without prior written permission from the copyright holders.

Disclaimer: Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessary reflect the views of the National Science Foundation, Emory University, or Morehouse College.