Arthro-Pod

Join Michael Skvarla of Penn State Entomology for a tour around the annual Great Insect Fair. 

Questions? Comments? 

Spotted lanternfly is one of the most dashing and prominent invasive species in the United States. This colorful planthopper is known for feeding on tree of heaven (another invasive species...) and grapes amongst quite a few others. Though they are likely best known for being being big and colorful and for going to bathroom all over everything. Join the Arthro-Pod gang as they sit down with Dr. Julie Urban of Penn State to talk all about what has happened with SLF since she last joined us in 2021!

Show Notes

https://extension.psu.edu/spotted-lanternfly 

https://extension.psu.edu/spotted-lanternfly-frequently-asked-questions

https://cals.cornell.edu/new-york-state-integrated-pest-management/outreach-education/whats-bugging-you/spotted-lanternfly/spotted-lanternfly-reported-distribution-map

https://extension.psu.edu/spotted-lanternfly-management-guide

Questions? Comments? 

Hello bug lovers and welcome to another episode of Arthro-Pod! Today, we're going to the world of mites, specifically, we will talking all about the pyemotes itch mite. This teeny tiny biting pest has been making a splash in the news recently, with lots of people in Chicago and other Illinois city's complaining about their painful nibbles. We'll talk all about the seemingly mysterious origins of the oak leaf itch mite, how entomologists in the US were first introduced to it, and why it's making headlines in 2024. Tune in, we don't bit even if the mites do!

Show Notes

Mike talked about elm zig zag sawfly in our Catching up part

FREE Webinar on Sept 9: Frontiers in Forest Health: Elm

Link to Register: https://extension.psu.edu/frontiers-in-forest-health-elm-zigzag-sawfly

If you want to read more about the non-native forest pest

https://entomologytoday.org/2023/07/20/here-we-go-again-meet-the-elm-zigzag-sawfly-another-non-native-forest-pest/

Oak itch mites in the news

https://www.8newsnow.com/news/national-news/mystery-bug-bites-in-chicago-area-may-be-connected-to-cicadas/ 

Oak Itch Mites References

• Cloyd, R. A. 2019. Oak leaf itch mite. K-State Research and

On today's episode, Michael is flying solo when he interviews Dr. Sarah Lower of Bucknell University. Dr. Lower is an expert on the evolution of signaling in the fireflies, one of the more popular group of insects we have here on Earth. Usually when people think of this flashy group, they visualize their ability to light up. Tune in to hear Dr. Lower talk about how not all fireflies are illuminated and her work with a pheromone for Lampyridae. 

Questions? Comments? 

Greetings from the void, bug lovers! Today's episode is a bit different in flavor... Michael and Jonathan met up this month for a dual family vacation and they are in search of the mythical Mothman! Join them as the delve into the world of cryptozoology and ask the question, why aren't there more insect cryptids? Check out the show notes to hear from John Acorn, entomology luminary, on this exact topic. Then, listen as they recount the tale of Mothman, who or what was he? Why were people in Point Pleasant, WV seeing him and what does he mean to a couple of entomologists with podcast gear? All this and more in this paranormal Arthro-Pod!

*One word of warning! At the end of our discussion on Mothman, there is a strange issue with the audio that warps our voices. This was not intentional on our part. Perhaps we had disgruntled him and he took it out on our podcast gear!*

Show notes

John Acorn on entomology and cryptozoology

The fandom wiki focused on "cryptids"

Darwin's hawkmoth

Questions? Comments? 

Today's episode is a twisted one! After meeting one of our listeners a while back, there was a request for a deep dive into the world of strepsiptera, aka the twisted wing parasites. This order of insects may not be a big one, but they do hold a lot of surprises. Mike leads Jody and Jonathan through a tour of their biology, taxonomy, and why they are so useful for students who are in an insect collection course. Tune in!

Questions? Comments? 

Hello bug lovers! On today's episode of Arthro-Pod, the gang will be taking you on a journey through the first section of an insect's body, the head. This magnificent center for information gathering and processing has many wonderful adaptations of internal and external anatomy that it's truly a marvel to dissect and consider. Tune in to hear all about how the insect head came to be, what important processes occur in the head, and how fun it is to have your esophagus run through the middle of your brain!

Show notes

• Joro spider: https://jorowatch.org/  
• Link to 1975 Head Problem Paper 
• Antennae 
• Compound eyes 
• How bees see

 Questions? Comments? 

Hello bug lovers and welcome back to Arthro-Pod! On today's show, the gang sits down with Dr. Eliza Grames of Binghamton University to talk about insects in decline. Terms like "insect apocalypse" are used in the media often and people have been asking Extension professionals about the gradual disappearance of things like fireflies and monarchs, Eliza helps to unpack what we know is happening with bug populations across the world. Plus, learn how scientists dissect huge stacks of data to better understand these declines and what fewer bugs might mean for things like birds. Tune in for all of it!

Show notes

https://elizagrames.github.io/

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2023989118

 Questions? Comments? 

Hello bug lovers and mosquito haters! On today's episode of Arthro-Pod, Michael and Jonathan delve into the long history between malaria and humanity. You won't believe the most famous folks taken down by this disease/pathogen! Plus we track the trail of malaria to the Americas and conclude the show with a discussion on the saga of malaria eradication in the United State's southern region. Tune in won't you??

• Humphreys, Margaret. Malaria Poverty, Race, and Public Health in the United States. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001. Print.

• How four once common diseases were eliminated from the American South by Margaret Humphreys
• https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.2012.301065?journalCode=ajph 

 Questions? Comments? 

• https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/malaria/symptoms-causes/syc-20351184#overview 

• https://www.paho.org/en/topics/malaria