Welcome bug lovers to our latest episode! Asa vast swath of the eastern US prepares for the "double brood" emergence of the various Magiccicada species, we here at Arthro-Pod got to meet up with engineer, entomologist, and author Alie Kratzer to talk about her new book, "The Cicadas of North America". See below for pre-ordering information.  We talk all about how cool these bugs are, the inspiration for the book, and just how exactly Alie was able to draw all those wonderful cicada...

  Hello lovers of bugs, as well as bugs who are in love! In today's episode, we take a journey through the world of nuptial gifts within the arthropods and find out why sometimes it is best to wrap a gift before trying to go on a date. Tune in to learn the basics of why nuptial gifts exist and how they can help facilitate the mating process and generation of the next generation. This one is a bit "spicy" so if you listen with kids, prepare for some biological talk! Crickets preparing to mate...

Welcome back bug lovers! Today we venture into the world of worms, both segmented and unsegmented, to talk about jumping worms and hammerhead worms. While neither of them are arthropods, entomologists have been fielding inquiries on both over the last few years. We try to dispel some of the myths surrounding these wiggly wonders and discuss the possible negative effects they could have in the environment. So grab a bag of gummy worms and tune in! Jumping worms are unique in color and texture...

Howdy bug lovers! Scale insects are simultaneously fascinating and sort of uninteresting. They are notoriously immobile for much of their life, making them the insect of equivalent of couch potatoes. But, with that comes intriguing questions about how they live, thrive, and survive. Today, Mike is flying solo to interview Scott Schneider all about this particular group of true bugs! Tune in! Scott Schneider, scale expert extraordinaire and our interviewee for this episode.   Scott hard at...

Hello bug lovers and welcome to a roach filled Valentine's edition of Artho-Pod! Jody and Jonathan meet up with Dr. Andrew Sutherland of University of California Extension. Andrew is an urban entomologist and an area IPM advisor for UC who serves the San Francisco area. As for today's topic, the Turkestan cockroach is an intriguing invasive species that is competing with other roaches, such as the oriental roach, for space. Due to a variety of factors, the Turkestan roach seems to be...

  Hello bug lovers and our new machine overlords and welcome to a new episode of Arthro-Pod. Today, Jody, Jon, and Mike, decide to swerve a bit out of their lane and discuss their thoughts about artificial intelligence, specifically the intersection of AI and entomology/Extension. There is a lot of clamor over what AI means for the future and what it means ethically. Extension is one area of the academy that seems like AI may have a profound impact on. The gang tries to slice through the hype...

 Hello friends, and welcome back to Arthro-Pod! Today's episode is a look at a phenomenon many entomologists will encounter, even if they aren't ready to, known as delusory parasitosis. Also referred to as delusions of infestation and Ekbom's syndrome, this situation involves a person believing that their body and home are infested with some sort of biting or stinging pest, despite there being no evidence that is true. We're all predisposed to interpret certain signals as being caused by an...

  Hello bug lovers! We hope you have had a wonderful 2023 and are looking forward to 2024. To wrap our season for the year, we wanted to do something fun and make a bit of a news round up focused on arthropods (and some adjacent critters) and see what people were saying about our creepy crawly friends. We'll go from worm rain all the way through malaria and how to kill wasps with gas! We hope you'll tune in and that you'll join us again next year.  Mormon crickets are just one newsworthy...

 Welcome back bug lovers and ho ho ho, happy holidays! On today's show we're diving into Christmas trees! When these trees are being grown, there are some pests that might make their way onto the leaves and twigs, so we're talking about their biology and management. However, most of our calls that involve trees are in regard to insects that have been accidentally brought inside with live trees that are now walking all over the presents so we touch on that too. Finally, Jonathan fished up some...

Hello bug lovers! Recently, there has been a lot of clamor about the discovery of bed bug issues in Paris, France. It's been interesting to watch a resurgence in questions and concerns with bed bugs pop up because of this and to hear people pondering what this means for events such as Paris Fashion Week and the 2024 Olympics. In this episode, Jody and Jonathan sit down to talk bed bug facts, discuss why this news has panicked so many people, and the every day adversity of dealing with bed...

  Hello bug lovers! Today, we're proud to publish a podcast recorded, edited, and produced by our friends at the podcast Bugs Need Heroes!! We met with them on their show back a little while back and had a blast talking about cockroaches, super heroes, and -most importantly- Danny Devito. They were kind enough to provide the audio to the show so we could also post it to our podcast feed. You should absolutely check out their show, https://www.bugsneedheroes.com/home, where you can hear Kelly,...

  Welcome to spooky season bug lovers! To celebrate, the Arthro-Pod crew sat down and watched the 1986 film, "The Fly" starring Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis and directed by the master of body horror, David Cronenberg. A word of warning, this one might not be suitable for all ages as we do talk about some graphic horror movie tropes and other sensitive topics.  Tune in though if you would like to hear a discussion on the entomological aspects of "The Fly" and why the idea of becoming an...

Hello bug lovers! Today, we're guided by Mike Skvarla into a deep dive on West Nile virus. A mosquito borne illness, West Nile is something the Arthro-Pod crew has learned a lot about over the course of their lives and careers. In fact, one of them even tested positive for it after trying to give blood... Mike was inspired by Episode 1031 of the This Week in Virology podcast, where they discussed a recent paper on the subject. The paper is “Autoantibodies neutralizing type I IFNs underlie...

  Howdy bug lovers! Last episode, we started our discussion of insect locomotion by getting up close and personal with insect legs. Today, we'll be a little more airborne as we discuss insect wings. Insects are the only invertebrates with the power of flight and there have long been questions about the origin of insect wings in the evolutionary record. Tune in to hear about the multiple theories on the origin of wings, how wings help with insect identification, and just how bugs take flight. ...

Howdy bug lovers! Over the next two episodes, the Arthro-Pod gang is going to be talking about insect locomotion, how they move through the world. In part one today, we're covering insect legs from hip to toe or rather coxa to tarsi. Tune in to learn about insect leg anatomy, the different types of legs and their function, and how legs were evolved in the insects.  Show noteshttps://cronodon.com/BioTech/Insect_locomotion.html https://academic-accelerator.com/encyclopedia/arthropod-leg...

  We continue our deep dive into alpha-gal red meat allergy today by taking a closer look at Galactose-alpha-1,3-galactose, the carbohydrate at the center of this issue, and the ticks that carry it. To help us unpack such a complicated situation, we have two special guests, Dr. Paulina Maldonado-Ruiz and Dr. Yoonseong Park, both currently at Kansas State University. Join us to learn more about the origins of alpha-gal red meat allergy, the research into how ticks carry it, and what the future...

Hello bug lovers! Over the next two episodes, the Arthro-Pod gang is going to explore the science behind alpha-gal, also known as the red meat allergy. This is a hot topic in the US right now, with many news outlets talking about the possible extent to which this is spread out across the country. This tickborne issue, associated with lone star ticks in the US, results in an inability to consume red meat such as beef, pork, and venison. For those who live with alpha-gal, life is very different...

  Hello bug lovers and uh, tick haters, to today's show! Today, the gang is joined by Jesse Evans, a master's student at Penn State. Jesse studies the intersection of ticks, wildlife, and wildfires- specifically controlled burns. People who have been dealing with surging tick populations seem to frequently wonder if fire could be to ticks what it once was to Frankenstein's monster, a potential deterrent. Tune in to hear Jesse discuss wild mice populations, how fickle fire can be for research,...

Howdy bug lovers! Today's episode is all about insecticides and some of the basics of how they work and are classified. These are ubiquitous pest control tools and despite their ease of use, the science behind them can be surprisingly complicated. Tune in to learn all about active ingredients, trade names, chemical classes, and modes of action and techniques we can utilize to best apply and preserve the technology behind insecticides.  So many choices! Show Notes The Insecticide Resistance...

Welcome back bug lovers! Today, we put on our mythbusting aprons and tackle some of the various misconceptions, myths, urban legends, and internet pranks that involve insects. We're covering everything from pest control via tree fruits to the legality of mantis murder. If you have a favorite insect urban legend, sound off on Twitter and let us know it. Maybe we can do a follow up episode! Nature's bug bombs? Show notes Ultrasonic pest control...

Hey there bug lovers! Today, Jody and Jonathan meet up with friend of the show, Dr. Jen Gordon of Bug Lessons consulting to talk about one of the most reviled insects known to humanity; the mosquito. There are lots of opinions and myths floating around out there about these bloodsucking parasites, but what is the truth. Tune in to learn about mosquito biology, methods of mosquito preventions, and for some myth dispersal! Aedes aegypti courtesy of “CDC/ Amy E. Lockwood, MS Dr. Gordon, fighting...

Howdy bug lovers, join Jody Green as she interviews Kevin O'Shea. Kevin is an international educator who loves bugs, birds, and just about anything out of doors. In his role as a teacher, he has realized over time just how disconnected many young people are from nature. He uses his talents to try and change that. If you would like to know more, you'll have to tune in! Kevin and beetle pal bringing the education! Show Notes:   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/justjapanstuff...

Today's episode is a little different than our usual offering. Recently, we were honored to be invited to present at Purdue's Department of Entomology as seminar speakers. One of our former guests, Dr. Krystal Hans, put together this special opportunity for us to come "home" to the department we all graduated from! It truly was a treat for us and we wanted to share the presentation we gave. You can listen to it here today, we hope you enjoy! You will learn about how the show got started, the...