Entomology and Plant Pathology

Insect systematics. Head, torax and abdomen morphology. Integument, alimentary canal, nervous system, tracheal system and circulatory system. Reproduction: oviparity, ovoviviparity, viviparity. Egg-laying. Postembryonic development: moult and metamorphosis: ametaboly, hemimetaboly, holometaboly. Postembryonic stages: youngs, nymphs, larvae, pupae, adults. Population dynamic. Classification of Orders and Families of agricultural pest insects. Biology of key insects of main crops and orchards: poliphagous insects, grapevines, cereals, apple and drupaceous orchards, olive grove, potato fields, greenhouse ornamentals. Evolution of insect control methods. Agronomic, mechanical and physical control, biological control, chemical control, damage threshold, integrated pest management. Action and toxicity of the main classes of insecticides.

Part one. Plant pathology: concept of disease in plants. History and progress of plant pathology. Type and amount of losses, effects of changes in agricultural methods and in human society on the development and spread of plant diseases, infectious and non-infectious plant diseases. Basic procedures in plant disease diagnosis: traditional and bio-molecular methods, identification of unknown disease; Koch's rules. Parasitism and disease development: parasitism and pathogenicity. The disease cycle: inoculation, infection, colonization, inoculum dispersal and survival. Basic concepts of plant disease epidemiology: appraisal of disease incidence and severity and losses, pattern of epidemics, development of epidemics: host, pathogen and environmental factors affecting epidemics. Plant disease management: control strategy and methods for plant disease management: Part two. Specific plant disease models caused by fungi, bacteria, mollicutes and viruses, of: cereal crops (wheat, rice, ecc.), fruit trees and grapevine, industrial crops (sugar beets, tomato, potato), forest and ornamental trees (chestnut, poplar, ecc). New and emerging diseases.