Café Scientifique with Marlene Zuk, "Sex on Six Legs - Insect Behavior, Evolutionary Biology and Sexual Selection" Recorded at the Bryant Lake Bowl on 11-19-13. "How is it that insects, with their robotic demeanor and stripped-down biological toolbox, are able to accomplish so many of the same functions as humans? Tonight, evolutionary biologist Dr. Marlene Zuk gives us an account of the social behavior (and yes, the sex lives) of ants, crickets, bees, and other insects, illuminating the fact that many of the things we think of as setting humans apart--personality, learning, language--aren't so extraordinary after all. Marlene Zuk is a biologist and writer who recently moved from California to the Twin Cities, where she is a professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior at the University of Minnesota. She studies sex and evolution in animals from insects to birds, and is interested in how people draw parallels between human and animal behavior. Zuk’s research has taken her around the world, in particular to Hawaii and other parts of the Pacific. Her books include Sexual Selections: What We Can and Can’t Learn About Sex from Animals; Riddled with Life: Friendly Worms, Ladybug Sex, and the Parasites that Make Us Who We Are; Sex on Six Legs: Lessons on Life, Love, and Language from the Insect World; and Paleofantasy: What Evolution Really Tells Us About Sex, Diet, and How We Live. She also writes for many popular outlets, including the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, and Natural History magazine, and has been interviewed on radio shows ranging from The Splendid Table to Fresh Air."