Using Bean Beetles (Callosobruchus maculatus) in Guided Inquiry Exercises in the Biology Laboratory

 

Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 2016, Volume 37

Greg K. Fitch & Jordan Burns

Abstract

Due to institutional and instructor constraints, a guided inquiry exercise nearly always requires a "system" that can be manipulated by students. Reproducing bean beetles (Callosobruchus maculatus) constitute such a system. Details about the laboratory culture and life cycle of Callosobruchus maculatus are readily available, as are ideas for guided inquiry exercises using bean beetles (e.g., see www.beanbeetles.org). An overarching question to be investigated using this system might be, "What factors influence the reproductive success of bean beetles?" Typically, in a guided inquiry exercise, a student group will choose to test the influence of an experimental variable on a dependent variable. For example, students might hypothesize that living under conditions of high relative humidity (RH), compared to low RH, will result in an increase in (a) the mean number of eggs laid by newly mated virgin female beetles, (b) the mean number of days lived by newly emerged female beetles, (c) the mean time to emergence (TTE) of the offspring of newly mated female beetles (with TTE defined as the number of days elapsed between mating of the mother and emergence from the bean of her adult offspring), and/or (d) the emergence success (ES) of eggs laid by newly mated female beetles (with ES defined as the proportion of eggs laid resulting in successfully emerged adult offspring). As another example, students might hypothesize that being reared on mung beans, as opposed to on blackeye peas (BEP), will result in an increase in one or more of the above four dependent variables.

Keywords:  guided inquiry, bean beetle

Boston University (2015)