NCHU Course Outline

Course Name	(中) 社會昆蟲學(3144)
	(Eng.) Social Insects
Offering Dept	Department of Entomology
Course Type	Elective	Credits	2	Teacher	NEOH KOK BOON
Department	Department of Entomology/Undergraduate	Language	English	Semester	2025-FALL
Course Description	This course provides the knowledge on the evolution and ecological consequences of social insects. Considering social insects are major components of most ecosystems and are key players in communities, we need to equip with knowledge about social insects for the sake of agriculture, forestry, horticulture and conservation. The course will begin with the definition of social insect and level of sociality from solitary to highly social groups in other taxa, including taxa that currently being recognized of the sociality. Then, exploring to their behavior, ecology, sociology of social insects using bees, ants, and termites as models.
Prerequisites				self-directed learning in the course	Y

Relevance of Course Objectives and Core Learning Outcomes(%)			Teaching and Assessment Methods for Course Objectives
Course Objectives	Competency Indicators	Ratio(%)	Teaching Methods	Assessment Methods
Provide a strong and contemporary knowledge in social insects	1. 2. 3. 6. 7.	30 30 20 10 10	Lecturing topic Discussion/Production	Attendance Assignment
Course Content and Homework/Schedule/Tests Schedule
Week Course Content Week 1 What are social insects? Level of sociality Week 2 Life cycle and kin structure Week 3 Division of labour among workers Week 4 Task partitioning and self-organization in workforce of foraging activity Week 5 Hygienic behaviour of social insect Week 6 Social immunity of social insect Week 7 Natural selection and kin selection Week 8 Examination Week 9 Asexual queen succession in termites Week 10 Genomic imprinting and evolution of termites Week 11 Functional role of termites in terrestrial ecosystems Week 12 Functional role of ants in terrestrial ecosystems revealed by isotope analysis Week 13 Management of pest termite Week 14 Management of pest ant Week 15 self-directed learning Week 16 Examination self-directed learning    01.Participation in professional forums, lectures, and corporate sharing sessions related to industry-government-academia-research exchange activities.
Evaluation
測驗
Textbook & other References
1. Wheeler, W. M. 2007. The social insects: their origin and evolution. VDM Verlag Dr. Muller, Saarbrucken. 378 p.
Teaching Aids & Teacher's Website
Office Hours
Tuesday from 9.10 am to 11.00 am
Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs(Link URL)
11.Sustainable Cities and Communities   12.Responsible Consumption   13.Climate Action   15.Life On Land include experience courses：N

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Update Date, year/month/day：2025/09/10 13:19:13	Printed Date, year/month/day：2025 / 12 / 20
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