ENTOMO Course(Course on Insect Taxonomy to boost up conservation of biodiversity)

Prof. T.C. Narendran Trust for Animal Taxonomy, Calicut, AICOPAX Project (ALL India Co-ordinated Project on Taxonomy, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Govt. Of India), University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram and DGM MES College Mampad jointly organised ‘ENTOMO Course’, a six day residental workshop on Insect Taxonomy and Diversity from 26th to 31st December 2007, at Mampad.
The course was well received with participants from Mumbai, Kolkatta, Hyderabad, Chennai, Coimbatore and Delhi, other than from different parts of Kerala. It is for the first time that such a course designed to impart the fundamentals of diversity and identification of insects, totally based on scientific procedures is organized in India. Since insects form a valuable component of our ecosystem, this basic course on insect taxonomy has great relevance, as it goes hand in hand with the principles and strategies involved in conservation of biodiversity.

Six major insect groups namely Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Months), Coleoptera (beetles), Orthoptera (grasshoppers), Diptera (flies), Hymenoptera (ants, bees, wasps) and Odonata (dragonflies and damsel flies) were dealt in detail by renowned scientists. The participants had a unique opportunity to have hands-on training in methods and techniques involved in collection, preseravation as well as identification of insects. Lectures on biodiversity inventorying, monitoring and estimation enriched the programme. The workshop concluded on 31st December 2007, with a nature-trek to the semi-deciduous forests at Nilambur.