Research Article

USING ARTIFICIAL INSECT-REARING TECHNOLOGIES IN BIOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION: A REVIEW

Nurmahmadovich Nafasov Zafar

Head of Laboratory; Doctor of Agricultural Sciences; Senior Researcher, Research Institute of Plant Quarantine and Protection, Uzbekistan

Introduction

Biology and environmental education aim not only to communicate facts about living organisms but also to help learners interpret relationships within ecosystems, evaluate evidence, and understand the consequences of human intervention. Insects provide a useful context for these aims because they occupy diverse ecological roles: some are agricultural or forest pests, while others, including entomophagous insects and parasitoids, can contribute to biological control [4, 5, 7, 17].

Artificial insect-rearing technologies offer a structured way to study development, nutrition, environmental requirements, reproduction, and survival. The rearing process commonly includes egg collection, incubation, larval care, pupation, adult maintenance, quality control, and, where relevant, storage and transportation. Each stage depends on species-specific requirements, so rearing protocols also illustrate why biological processes must be interpreted in context rather than through a single universal procedure [1, 15, 19].

For teaching purposes, the subject can connect biological concepts with practical reasoning. Learners can examine how temperature, humidity, light, diet, and habitat may influence insect development, while also considering the welfare of organisms and the ecological implications of pest management. The purpose of this article is to review the educational potential of insect-rearing knowledge and propose learning activities grounded in the scientific literature.

Review question and method

The review addresses the following question: which concepts and procedures described in the literature on insect rearing and biological protection can be converted into meaningful learning activities for biology and environmental education?

A narrative review approach was used. The reference list supplied with the source manuscript was examined for works dealing with entomophage rearing and storage, biological forest protection, biological plant protection, insect pathogens, pest monitoring, and mass rearing [1–28]. The material was organized thematically rather than statistically. No formal systematic-review protocol, database search, inclusion/exclusion flow, or quantitative synthesis was available in the source material; therefore, the article does not claim to be a systematic review. Educational activities proposed below are derived recommendations, not interventions whose effectiveness has already been experimentally demonstrated.

Findings: educational themes in insect-rearing technologies

Life cycles and developmental biology

The stages of insect development provide a clear framework for teaching biological change over time. Egg collection and incubation can be used to introduce embryonic development and observation schedules; larval rearing can support discussion of growth, feeding, and moulting; and pupal and adult stages can be used to compare developmental patterns across species. Learners may prepare a life-cycle diagram and annotate the conditions that require monitoring at each stage. The literature on insect rearing and entomophagous insects provides a biological context for such comparisons [1, 15, 19].

Organisms, habitats, and environmental conditions

Rearing procedures demonstrate that insect development is affected by interacting environmental and biological factors. Temperature, humidity, light, food availability, substrate, and exposure to parasites or pathogens may all be relevant, although their effects vary by species and stage [14, 15, 20, 22]. A teaching task can ask students to compare two hypothetical rearing settings and predict which additional observations would be needed before drawing a conclusion. Such work encourages conditional reasoning and helps learners distinguish a plausible explanation from a demonstrated causal relationship.

Observation, measurement, and quality control

Egg counts, survival, developmental timing, and adult reproduction can serve as examples of biological indicators. In a classroom activity, students can use a provided dataset or a teacher-prepared simulation to calculate proportions, construct a table, identify variation, and discuss possible sources of error. Simulated data must be clearly labelled as simulated; it should not be presented as experimental evidence. This approach can help learners understand why reliable biological work requires consistent methods, repeated observations, and transparent records.

Artificial diets and scientific problem-solving

The formulation of artificial or semi-synthetic diets illustrates how biological needs influence experimental design. The literature describes the importance of nutritional components and species-specific rearing conditions, but a diet that is suitable for one insect cannot automatically be assumed suitable for another [17, 19, 26, 27]. Students can compare descriptions of diets in published sources, identify the variables that differ, and formulate a testable question. Any practical rearing activity should be selected and supervised by a qualified teacher and should follow appropriate biosafety and animal-care requirements.

Biological control and environmental responsibility

Research on biological plant and forest protection provides a context for discussing the use of beneficial insects and parasitoids in pest management [4, 5, 7, 17, 23, 27]. Learners can map a simplified food relationship-plant, phytophagous insect, and entomophage-and discuss how a change in one population may affect others. They should also consider that biological control is not universally effective: outcomes depend on the target pest, the biological-control agent, local conditions, and monitoring quality. Classroom discussion should therefore emphasize evidence-based decisions rather than treating the release of beneficial insects as a guaranteed solution.

Suggested teaching activities

Activity 1 - Life-cycle mapping. Learners create a diagram of the egg, larval, pupal, and adult stages for a selected insect, adding a note about the environmental requirements or observations relevant to each stage.

Activity 2 - Protocol comparison. Small groups compare two descriptions of insect- rearing procedures from the literature. They identify similarities, differences, controlled variables, and information that would be needed to reproduce each procedure.

Activity 3 - Data interpretation. Learners receive a clearly labelled hypothetical dataset on egg hatch, larval survival, or development time. They summarize the data in a table or graph and distinguish what the data show from what remains uncertain.

Activity 4 - Environmental decision scenario. Learners consider a hypothetical forest- pest outbreak and propose a monitoring plan. Their plan should identify the information needed before choosing a management measure and should account for beneficial organisms and habitat conditions.

Activity 5 - Source evaluation. Learners compare a scientific source with a general informational text, identify the evidence supporting each claim, and practise citing the source. This task supports scientific literacy and responsible use of information.

These activities are recommendations for teaching design. Their suitability should be adjusted to learners’ age, curriculum, available resources, and local safety requirements.

Discussion

The reviewed literature is primarily concerned with insect biology, rearing methods, and biological protection rather than with educational outcomes. Its value for pedagogy lies in the opportunity to transform authentic scientific procedures into structured inquiry tasks. The sequence from observation and measurement to comparison and interpretation can help connect biological content with scientific reasoning.

However, the proposed activities should not be interpreted as evidence that a particular teaching method has already improved student achievement. The source material does not provide classroom trials, participant information, pre- and post-assessment results, or statistical comparisons. Future educational research could pilot selected activities and assess their effects on conceptual understanding, evidence evaluation, and environmental reasoning using transparent methods and appropriate comparison measures.

Conclusion

Artificial insect-rearing technologies can provide a meaningful context for biology and environmental education because they connect life cycles, nutrition, environmental conditions, observation, data interpretation, and biological control. The literature supports the biological relevance of these themes, while the proposed teaching activities translate them into possible learning tasks. Their educational effectiveness remains to be tested empirically. Future work should evaluate the activities in real educational settings and report the methods, learner characteristics, assessment tools, and results in sufficient detail for independent appraisal.

Artificial intelligence (ChatGPT, GPT-6) was used to assist with revising the article and editing its language.

References

1. Adashkevich, B. P., & Shiyko, E. (1983). Razvedenie i khranenie entomofagov [Rearing and storage of entomophagous insects]. Tashkent: Uzbekistan.
2. Azimov, J. A., Khamraev, A. Sh., & Abdunazarov, B. B. (1998). Sokhranenie biologicheskogo raznoobraziya [Conservation of biological diversity]. Tashkent.
3. Alimukhamedov, S. N., Adashkevich, B. P., Adylov, Z. K., & Khodjaev, Sh. T. (1990). G‘o‘zani biologik usulda himoya qilish [Biological protection of cotton]. Tashkent: Mehnat.
4. Berryman, A. (1990). Zashchita lesa ot nasekomykh-vrediteley [Protecting forests from insect pests]. Moscow: Agropromizdat.
5. Bondarenko, N. V. (1986). Biologicheskaya zashchita rasteniy [Biological plant protection]. Moscow: Agroprom.
6. Viktorov, G. A. (1976). Ekologiya parazitov-entomofagov [Ecology of entomophagous parasites]. Moscow: Nauka.
7. Vorontsov, A. I. (1984). Biologicheskaya zashchita lesa [Biological forest protection]. Moscow: Lesnaya Promyshlennost.
8. Weiser, J. (1972). Mikrobiologicheskie metody borby s vrednymi nasekomymi [Microbiological methods for controlling harmful insects]. Moscow: Kolos.
9. Grodnitsky, D. L., Bakhvalov, S. A., Gninenko, Yu. I., & Alekseev, A. A. (2004). Zashchita lesov Sibiri ot vredonosnykh nasekomykh [Protecting Siberian forests from harmful insects]. Krasnoyarsk.
10. Golosova, M. A. (2003). Biologicheskaya zashchita lesa: uchebnoe posobie [Biological forest protection: A textbook]. Moscow.
11. Golosova, M. A. (2003). Mikrobiologicheskaya zashchita rasteniy [Microbiological plant protection]. Moscow.
12. Guliy, V. V., Ivanov, G. M., & Shternshis, M. A. (1982). Mikrobiologicheskaya borba s vrednymi organizmami [Microbiological control of harmful organisms]. Moscow: Kolos.
13. Instruktsiya po aviatsionnomu primeneniyu biologicheskikh i khimicheskikh sredstv zashchity lesa ot khvoe- i listogryzushchikh nasekomykh [Instructions for aerial application of biological and chemical forest-protection agents against needle- and leaf-feeding insects]. (2001). Pushkino: VNIILM.
14. Evlakhova, A. A. (1974). Entomopatogennye griby. Sistematika, biologiya, prakticheskoe znachenie [Entomopathogenic fungi: Systematics, biology, and practical significance]. Leningrad: Nauka.
15. Kolomiets, N. G., & Bogdanova, D. A. (1980). Parazity i khishchniki ksilofagov Sibiri [Parasites and predators of xylophagous insects in Siberia]. Novosibirsk: Nauka, Siberian Branch.
16. Koppel, H., & Mertins, D. (1980). Biologicheskoe podavlenie vrednykh nasekomykh [Biological suppression of harmful insects]. Moscow: Mir.
17. Krushev, L. T. (1973). Biologicheskie metody zashchity lesa ot vrediteley [Biological methods of forest protection against pests]. Moscow: Lesnaya Promyshlennost.
18. Metody monitoringa vrediteley i bolezney lesa. Bolezni i vrediteli v lesakh Rossii. Tom III [Methods for monitoring forest pests and diseases. Diseases and pests in Russian forests, Vol. III]. (2004). Moscow: VNIILM.
19. Monastyrskiy, A. L., & Gorbatovskiy, V. V. (1991). Massovoe razvedenie nasekomykh dlya biologicheskoy zashchity rasteniy [Mass rearing of insects for biological plant protection]. Moscow: VO Agropromizdat.
20. Patogeny nasekomykh: strukturnye i funktsionalnye aspekty [Insect pathogens: Structural and functional aspects]. (2001). Edited by V. V. Glupov. Moscow: Krugly God.
21. Strokov, V. V. (1968). Tekhnika ispolzovaniya fauny dlya zashchity lesa [Techniques for using fauna in forest protection]. Moscow: Lenin.
22. Tarasevich, L. M. (1975). Virusy nasekomykh [Insect viruses]. Moscow: Nauka.
23. Franz, J., & Krieg, F. (1984). Biologicheskie metody borby s vreditelyami [Biological methods of pest control]. Moscow: Nauka.
24. Khizhnyak, P. A., Beglyarov, G. A., Stativkin, V. G., & Nikiforov, A. M. (1971). Khimicheskaya i biologicheskaya zashchita rasteniy [Chemical and biological plant protection]. Moscow: Kolos.
25. Steinhaus, E. (1952). Patologiya nasekomykh [Insect pathology]. Moscow: Izdatelstvo Inostrannoy Literatury.
26. Shternshis, M. V. (1995). Povyshenie effektivnosti mikrobiologicheskoy borby s vrednymi nasekomymi [Improving the effectiveness of microbiological control of harmful insects]. Novosibirsk.
27. Shternshis, M. V., Dzhalilov, U., Andreeva, I. V., & Tomilova, O. G. (2004). Biologicheskaya zashchita rasteniy [Biological plant protection]. Moscow: Kolos.
28. Yanovskiy, V. M. (1999). Lesoentomologicheskiy monitoring: uchebnoe posobie [Forest-entomological monitoring: A textbook]. Krasnoyarsk: KSU.