Arthro-Pod

Hey there bug lovers we're coming at you from EntSoc2017 in Denver with another quick-cast! In this episode we meet up with Sheryl Hosler a.k.a The Roving Naturalist! We talk YouTube, how videos help with science communication, and bison poop! Be sure to tune in! Subscribe to the Roving Naturalist!  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdZqc1TlY7AF07n31GyfOqA

Hey there bug lovers! We're coming at you from the Entomological Society of America National meeting in Denver, CO! We're trying to put together some "quickcasts" for all of you and our first one features Sarah Triplett of Butterfly Pavilion. Tune in to hear about zookeeping as a career and all the wonders that await you at Butterfly Pavilion! Our first guest at ESA 2017! Check out the Butterfly Pavilion and head to their website to learn more: https://www.butterflies.org/

Hi there bug lovers and welcome to our Halloween special! Today, Jody and Jonathan are featuring parasitoids, one of the most fascinating groups of insects! Their life cycles lend themselves to Halloween discussion as they are often reminiscent of the Alien in Alien, devouring victims from the inside out.  Aphid mummies caused by a parasitoid braconid wasp (Photo Jody Green; UNL) In the show we discuss the differences between parasites and parasitoids but here are some easy definitions if you are curious:  Parasites: lives off another’s (host) benefits by deriving nutrients at host’s expense giving nothing in return Some examplesExternal: leech, lice, fleas, ticks, mites Internal: tapeworm, protozoan that transmits Malaria via mosquito vector, horsehair worms Here is a horsehair worm leaving a mantis Parasitoid: Usually insects that undergo complete metamorphosis such as wasps and flies, where the female lays eggs in or on the host and the larvae behaves like an internal parasite, developing using the host’s body for nutrients, but eventually kills the host by through the developmental process.  Some examples Parasitoid Host Description Appearance Braconid wasp(Braconidae) Sphingid caterpillar (Spingidae) Eggs laid & free living in side hemolymph, emerge & spin cocoon on outside of caterpillar Hornworm caterpillar has hundreds of larvae or cocoons on the outside of its body. Wasp is very small. Aphidius sp.(Braconidae) Aphids (Aphididae) Eggs laid on aphid, grows inside, killing it, pupation creates the mummy form, chews hole out of the rear end In the same place where aphids are found, aphid mummies are swollen, tan, papery spheres with cornicles. Tiny wasps among aphids. Emerald wasp/Jewel wasp (Ampulicidae) American cockroach(Blattidae) Sting thoracic ganglion to paralyze, then sting head to disarm escape reflex, chews off half of each antenna, guides cockroach to burrow Wasp is found in Asia & Africa. Metallic blue color, 2nd & 3rd pair of legs are bright red & enlarged Scolioidea (Scoliidae) Scarab beetles/white grubs, Japanese beetles (Scarabaeidae) Burrows in ground to look for larvae, spins cocoon underground, locates host by kairomones like hydrocarbons, feces Wasp has stout body, bright colors, black & yellow. Cicada killer wasps (Crabronidae) Cicada(Cicadidae) Catch cicada using sounds, provision burrows with paralyzed cicadas, overwinter as larvae, pupate in spring, emerge as adults in summer (no adults overwinter) Largest wasp, often close to wooded area where cicadas can be found, females are very large solitary, males territorial but only has pseudo stinger. Velvet ant(Mutillidae) Cicada killer(Crabronidae) Lay egg in nest cell of cicada killer when larvae pupates it consumes pupae (Hyperparasite) Bright colors, females lack wings, coarse hair Ichneumonid wasp(Ichneumonidae) Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera  grub, larva or pupae Inject eggs into hosts bodies or in larvae of other icheunmonids (Hyperparasite). Can use ovipositor to inject into wood boring larvae below bark Slender waist, lots of antennal segments, some have long threadlike ovipositors Tachinid fly (Tachnidae) Caterpillars and other insect hosts Robust fly with shiny or very hairy butt, feeds on flowers as adult Emblemasoma sp. (Sarcophagidae) Cicada (Cicadidae) Locates host by acoustically hunting male cicadas, drops 1-6 maggots at base of wings that burrow into body to feed, larvae use “oral hooks” to chew their way out to pupate in soil. Flesh fly with red eyes, 3 dark stripes on thorax Cicada killer wasp with hapless cicada victim (Photo Jody Green; UNL) Not all parasitoids are wasps! Flies and beetles can parasitize as well! (Photo Jody Green; UNL) Questions? Comments?  Follow the hosts on Twitter @JLarson_UNL, @JodyBugsmeUNL, and @MSkvarla36Get the show through iTunes!Subscribe to our feed on Feedburner!   We're on Stitcher too! 

Hi there bug lovers! On today's show Jody Green and Michael Skvarla talk about fears surrounding our six-legged friends. For some people insects produce feelings of unease and the heebie jeebies! What is that brought them to this and is there any way to overcome it? These questions and more, answered today on Arthro-Pod! Show notes for today:  Entomophobia – Fear of insectsCommon entomophobias or insect-related phobias:Apiphobia or melissophobia – fear of beesSpheksophobia – fear of waspsMyrmecophobia – fear of antsAcaraphobia – fear of mitesArachnophobia – fear of spidersMottephobia – fear of moths Phobias or fears are not just a dislike for insects or a certain insect, but a deep, persistent and unreasonable fear which elicits symptoms of anxiety (heart palpitations, sweating, trembling, nausea, loss of breath, dizziness) when presented with an entomological stimulus.  Immersion therapy can involve exposing arachnophobes to spiders such as tarantulas Causes of specific phobias could be a variety of factors including traumatic childhood experiences, medical condition, genetic predisposition, learned behavior, fear by association and/or an evolutionary or cultural response.  Arthropods in U.S. Homes:NC State Matt Bertone: https://news.ncsu.edu/2016/01/bertone-home-arthropod-2016/   Some Insect Horror Films (if you are looking for a Halloween movie marathon!)Them! The Naked Jungle 1954Tarantula 1955 The Deadly Mantis. The Black Scorpion,  Monster from Green Hell, Beginning of the End 1957The Fly, The Spider, The Strange World of Planet X 1958 Return of the Fly, The Wasp Woman 1959  Body in the Web 1960 Mothra 1961The Deadly Bees 1966Hives of Horror 1967Genocide 1968 Phase IV 1974 Bug, The Giant Spider Invasion 1975Squirm 1976Empire of the Ants, Kingdom of the Spiders 1977The Swarm, The Bees 1978Phenomena 1985The Fly 1986The Nest 1988The Fly II 1989Arachnophobia 1990Naked Lunch 1991Ticks, Skeeter 1993Mosquito 1994 Mimic, Starship Troopers 1997 Bug Buster 1998Spiders, The Nest 2000Arachnid, Mimic 2 2001Eight Legged Freaks, Infested 2002Mimic 3: Sentinel 2003Insecticidal, Glass Trap, Killing Bee 2005 In The Spider’s Web 2007Infestation, Invicta 2009 Jody has meleagrisphobia – fear of turkeys Mike has basophobia or basiphobia – fear of falling Questions? Comments?  Follow the hosts on Twitter @JLarson_UNL, @JodyBugsmeUNL, and @MSkvarla36Get the show through iTunes!Subscribe to our feed on Feedburner!   We're on Stitcher too!  This episode is freely available on archive.org and is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Beginning/ending theme: "There It Is" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Hi there bug lovers! On today's show Jody and Jonathan discuss how insects survive the falling temperatures of winter. While some may just wait out the cold as an egg, others may stick around as an adult form which can lead to negative interactions in our homes. How can we prevent invaders and which are the most likely to be found indoors? Tune in to find out! Pictures of Jody's infamous five fall invaders (All photos copyright of Jody Green; Nebraska Extension): Multicolored Asian ladybeetles, note the "M" on pronotum which stands for multicolored Asian ladybeetle Conifer seed bug Cluster fly with fine golden hair Boxelder bugs clustered together trying to get inside Brown marmorated stink bug adult, the latest invasive to Nebraska Show notes on fall invaders https://lancaster.unl.edu/hort/articles/2011/FallInvaders.shtml https://communityenvironment.unl.edu/pest-month-fall-invaders Questions? Comments?  Follow the hosts on Twitter @JLarson_UNL, @JodyBugsmeUNL, and @MSkvarla36Get the show through iTunes!Subscribe to our feed on Feedburner!   We're on Stitcher too!  This episode is freely available on archive.org and is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Beginning/ending theme: "There It Is" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Hi there bug lovers! On today's show Mike and Jonathan are talking all about the infamous brown recluse! While this eight-legged animal may inspire fear in the heart of many, perhaps it is just misunderstood? Tune in to learn about where the brown recluse lives, what may actually be responsible for those gross pictures you see online, and how to identify if you have a brown recluse or not! Helpful size comparison of brown recluse to an American quarter (Jim Kalisch; UNL Entomology) Here are our show notes with some helpful quotations pulled by Mike: "From the beginning, the diagnosis of brown recluse spider bite was based on supposition much more than fact" http://www.labmed.theclinics.com/article/S0272-2712(06)00015-1/abstract "2,055 brown recluse spiders...were collected...in a home in Lenexa, KS. Additional collections from more typically infested homes in Missouri and Oklahoma in 2001 yielded 45 and 30 brown recluse spiders, respectively. Despite these infestations, no envenomations of the inhabitants of these three homes occurred. Considering the levels of infestations with no bites in the homes presented here, nonendemic areas in the United States, which typically lack recluse spider populations and have had zero to few verified specimens of the spider, do not have sufficient numbers of brown recluse spiders to make envenomation a likely scenario."http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1603/0022-2585-39.6.948 "Brown recluse spiders are not found in Canada. Hobo spiders have not been reliably implicated in  dermonecrosis. Worldwide, spider-bite envenomation is an unlikely cause of dermonecrosis."http://www.cfp.ca/content/cfp/50/8/1098.full.pdf "In total, 1,773 arachnids [were submitted] from 49 states. Participants from states at least half within the known brown recluse distribution submitted Loxosceles spiders 32–89% of the time. From 25 of 29 states completely or almost completely outside of the range of Loxosceles spiders, no recluse spiders were submitted."https://academic.oup.com/jme/article/42/4/512/910901/Arachnids-Submitted-as-Suspected-Brown-Recluse "The diagnosis of brown recluse spider bite is overused for dermonecrotic wounds of uncertain etiology"http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0196064402259776 "The medical community from non-endemic Loxoscelesareas often makes loxoscelism diagnoses solely on the basis of dermonecrotic lesions where Loxosceles spiders are rare or non-existent."http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0041010103001739 "Among both physicians and the general public, the perceived threat of spider bites far exceeds the actual risk. The misdiagnosis of spider bites is given to a wide spectrum of dermatologic conditions, some of which are far more dangerous than a spider bite." http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmra041184 The six eyes that help to ID a brown recluse (Jim Kalisch; UNL Entomology) Questions? Comments?  Follow the hosts on Twitter @JLarson_UNL, @JodyBugsmeUNL, and @MSkvarla36Get the show through iTunes!Subscribe to our feed on Feedburner!   We're on Stitcher too!  This episode is freely available on archive.org and is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Beginning/ending theme: "There It Is" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Tune in to today's show where Jody and Jonathan chat about painted lady butterflies and the magnificent migration that has been occurring. Painted ladies, aka cosmopolitans, are found on nearly every continent on Earth and are a handsome mixture of orange, brown, and white. While the monarch butterfly is the most famous migratory insect, painted ladies are also capable of showing off and traversing the country over successive generations. Learn more about this butterfly from our friends at Iowa State: http://vanessa.ent.iastate.edu/node/10482 Or contribute to the databanks of iNaturalist https://www.inaturalist.org/  Questions? Comments?  Follow the hosts on Twitter @JLarson_UNL, @JodyBugsmeUNL, and @MSkvarla36Get the show through iTunes!Subscribe to our feed on Feedburner!  We're on Stitcher too!  This episode is freely available on archive.org and is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Beginning/ending theme: "There It Is" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Hi there bug lovers! It's been a while since I released an episode and for that I apologize. Arthro-Pod is one of the favorite aspects of my job but it can be tough as a one-man band. That is why I am excited to announce that Arthro-Pod is going through a bit of a relaunch and adding two more hosts to the program! All of us are extension entomologists with a mission to bring entomological knowledge to the masses! Before you tune in, read on to meet your new best bug friends! Dr. Jody Green, also of University of Nebraska, is joining up and bringing a ton of energy and urban entomology expertise! You have met Dr. Michael Skvarla on the Arthropod 101 segments we do but he will now be a permanent host, coming to us from Penn State and sharing his knowledge about insect ID and systematics! We are teaming up to bring you more entertainment, more knowledge, and best of all more episodes! We will still have interview episodes but now will also offer episodes centered around interesting insect cases, journal club type episodes, or just choosing an arthropod we have been getting lots of questions about featuring them for a half hour. I hope you can feel the excitement and that you will keep tuning in and telling your friends about the show! Thanks for all your support! The Bug Squad y'all!Questions? Comments?  Follow the hosts on Twitter @JLarson_UNL, @JodyBugsmeUNL, and @MSkvarla36Get the show through iTunes!Subscribe to our feed on Feedburner!  We're on Stitcher too!  This episode is freely available on archive.org and is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Beginning/ending theme: "There It Is" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Greetings arthropod lovers of all stripes! Today Mike Skvarla and I sit down with Ray Fisher of the University of Arkansas to discuss Chelicerata. Now you may be saying to yourself, "What is a Chelicerata? It sounds like an exotic sports car." and you would be wrong. Chelicerates are a diverse group of animals that we interact with on a regular basis and includes things like spiders, ticks, mites, scorpions and many more.  In this episode, we will unpack this large and diverse group by discussing their appendages, evolution, and interactions with humans. Ray is an expert in his field and has provided us extensive show notes if you care to check them out! (Please note that some of the links are to papers posted on Research Gate. If you wish to access these papers, you will need to create a profile, which is free). Here are few sources for chelicerate phylogeny highlighting Lamsdell's work (the first one has a nice summary tree). Seldin et al. (2015) - An unusual euchelicerate linking horseshoe crabs and eurypteridsLamsdell et al (2015) - A new Ordovician arthropod from the Winneshiek Lagerstätte of Iowa (USA) reveals the ground plan of eurypterids and chasmataspidids Here are two major works that discuss the new system for arthropods and chelicerates. The first highlights some review material from another titan in this field, Javier Ortega-Hernández, and discusses some interesting terminological problems with words like "Arthropoda". He introduces a new term, Deuteropoda, which emphasizes the shift from stem euarthropods to those that have the first appendage being the deuterosomal one. The second paper is Lamsdell's beast where he demoloshes Xiphosura, and in turn, Merostomata.Ortega-Hernández (2014) - Making sense of ‘lower’ and ‘upper’ stem-groupEuarthropodaLamsdell (2013) - Revised systematics of Palaeozoic ‘horseshoe crabs’ and the myth of monophyletic Xiphosura I had to pass this gem along. I didn't mention it, but it's cool to see such ecological diversity in horseshoe crabs, a mere relic group today. Check it out: Lamsdell (2015) – Horseshoe crab phylogeny and independent colonizations of fresh water I mentioned that the timing of terrestrialization for most major terrestrial lineages (insects, arachnids, myriapods) has been supported by both molecular and fossil data. So, both lines of evidence supports an Ordovician or Silurian terrestrialization event for Arachnids and an Ordovician terrestrialization event for Hexapods. However, a recent study found that millipedes are different. For them, molecular data is in stark contrast to fossil data; in other words, millipedes likely colonized land long before there were even trace fossils of them... so we're looking at a terrestrialization event at the mid-to-late Cambrian! So Myriapoda likely colonized land twice! Apparently this is supported by millipede biogeography and also by differing structure of the tracheal systems between millipedes and centipedes.Lozano-Fernandez et al. (2016) - A molecular palaeobiological exploration of arthropod terrestrialization Here is the paper I mentioned that supports, albeit very weakly, the idea that arachnids colonized via the interstitial as small-bodied creatures, vs. the popular conception of larger-bodied scorpions.Schaefer et al 2010 - Arthropod colonization of land – Linking molecules and fossils in oribatid mites It's hard to find a compelling figure illustrating the evolution of the chelicera, but Figure 3 of the below article describing Yohoia seems to be best. The point is that chelicerae (Chelicerates) evolved from raptorial deuterosomal limbs used for prey-capture, whereas mandibles evolved from 4th-segment biramous legs with endites that were already acting as gnathobases, but then by reducing the telopodite and simultaneously enhancing the protopodite. There's a great figure for this in the below dissertation (Fig. 1.3.)Haug et al 2012 – Function morphology, ontogeny and evolution of mantis shrimp-lik

Howdy bug lovers! Today we meet up with Cari and Caitlin from the awesome podcast Bugs & Stuff! We chat all about science communication, being a grad student, and how entomology and podcasting go together. It is a lot of fun and I promise you will giggle as much as we did! Be sure to start following their show at  https://bugsandstuffpod.wordpress.com/ Or hit them up on Twitter  @BugsAndStuffPod  Questions? Comments?  Email: [email protected] the show on TwitterGet the show through iTunes!Subscribe to our feed on Feedburner!  We're on Stitcher too! Thanks for listening! This episode is freely available on archive.org and is licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Beginning/ending theme: "There It Is" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0