Arthro-Pod

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

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

Hello vault dwellers and bug lovers! On today's episode of Arthro-Pod, the gang dips their toes into the cultural zeitgeist to talk about the video game/television show "Fallout" and more specifically about the horrible mutated arthropods that exist in that universe. Tune in to hear about the biology of giant "radroaches", feel the sting of the "stingwing", and maybe befriend your own mothman. It's a lot of fun to look at the entomological basis and designs of these critters and hash out which of them are the best from our buggy perspective. 

Questions? Comments? 

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 illustrations. Tune in to learn more!

Show notes

Check out Alie's company Owlfly

Track down her other book "The Social Wasps of North America"

Questions? Comments? 

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!

Insect (Order, Family)

Nuptial Gift

Purpose

Dung beetles (O: Coleoptera, F: Scarabaeidae)

Food in the form of a dung ball

https://academic.oup.com/beheco/article/21/2/424/323090

Part of courtship display, dung ball is used for food source to help her and the offspring

Fireflies (O: Coleoptera, F: Lampyridae) some species

Spermatophore contains sperm and nutrients

https://now.tufts.edu/2016/12/22/firefly-gift-giving-composition-nuptial-gifts-revealed

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2P8vKghAoh8

To obtain nutrients and fertilization occurs this way

Giant water bug (O: Hemiptera, M: Belostomatidae)

Small aquatic animals as prey (fish)

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/eth.12416

Part of the courtship ritual, males carry the eggs

Aphids (O: Hemiptera, F: Aphididae)

“mating drop” droplet of nutrient-rich fluid

To obtain nutrients essential for reproduction

Crickets (O: Orthopera, F:

Laupala cerasina

Several nuptial gifts before transferring genetic material

https://www.mpg.de/9686444/nuptial-feeding-female-crickets

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00265-019-2705-9

Nuptial gifts improve the amount of genetic material successfully transferred from the final spermatophore to the female

Long-tailed dance flies (O: Diptera, F:

Rhamphomyia longicauda

Nutrients

https://www.jstor.org/stable/23734479

Females do not hunt so they relay on the nuptial gifts. They fill their abdomens with air to look like their eggs are more mature so males will seek them out

Imported cabbagworm butterflies (O: Lepidoptera, F:

Nitrogen

https://www.thegraphicleader.com/opinion/columnists/the-changing-rules-of-romance-for-the-cabbage-white-butterfly

Scorpion flies (O: Mecoptera, F: Panorpidae)

Dead prey item

https://www.jstor.org/stable/4536380

https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22830480-100-heres-my-nuptial-gift-a-dead-planthopper-now-can-we-mate/

To appease the female and increase chances of successful mating

Questions? Comments? 

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!

Questions? Comments? 

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 work in the field.

Soft scale on a Rubus. Note how the waxy covering appears softer than that of hard scales.

 Lac scales, from which products like shellac are produced.

Xenococcid scale insect that is associated with Acropyga ants. 

Acropyga worker moving a xenococcid scale. Photo by Jonghyun Park via iNaturalist, used under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license.

All photographs by Scott Schneider and used with permission unless otherwise noted.

Show notes

Sodano et al. 2024. Scale insect (Hemiptera: Coccomorpha) morphology is transformed under trophobiosis.  Annals of the Entomological Society of America 117(1): 49–63, https://doi.org/10.1093/aesa/saad033

Schneider et al. 2018. Molecular phylogenetics of Aspidiotini armored scale insects (Hemiptera: Diaspididae) reveals rampant paraphyly, curious species radiations, and multiple origins of association with Melissotarsus ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 129: 291-303. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2018.09.003

Questions? Comments? 

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 spreading and is also being noticed by people in the western US. All of that adds up to an interesting podcast episode filled with cockroach facts, thoughts on how the Turkestan roach is spreading, and possible management strategies. 

Show Notes

Questions? Comments? 

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 and share their feelings as well as some reporting on artificial intelligence. Tune in to hear more and share your thoughts with the crew as well!

Show Notes

https://entomologytoday.org/2023/09/14/systematic-entomology-artificial-intelligence/

https://futurism.com/sports-illustrated-ai-generated-writers

https://extension.org/2019/04/23/using-artificial-intelligence-to-support-extension-services/

https://extension.org/tools/extbot/

https://agrilinks.org/post/revolutionizing-extension-models-artificial-intelligence-service-smallholder-farmers

https://www.ifpri.org/blog/can-we-trust-ai-generate-agricultural-extension-advisories

 Questions? Comments?