The star of the cover of the VHS box art of the 1991 film Silence of the Lambs is here. This aesthetic insect has a dark secret! What relationship does she have with the bees, poisonous plants, and bad omens? Tangents in this episode include Ikea trips, targeted advertisements, and spoilers for American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

Episode notes and artwork: https://www.bugsneedheroes.com/episodes/the-goth-moth

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Hosted by Amanda Niday and Kelly Zimmerman with editing by Derek Conrad.

Created by Derek Conrad and Kelly Zimmerman.

Character artwork by Amanda Niday.

Music by Rolemusic.

Introducing the final member of our "Bee Team". Fastidious and precise! Guaranteed to blow your mind! Although they look intimidating, Cicada Killers (Sphecius spp) have been described as "the gentle giants of the wasp world." These gregarious wasps have a surprisingly survival strategy. Also in this episode, Amanda forgets to turn off her discord notifications and learns about insect wings. 

Show notes and hero: https://www.bugsneedheroes.com/episodes/the-killer-queen

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Hosted by Amanda Niday and Kelly Zimmerman with editing by Derek Conrad.

Created by Derek Conrad and Kelly Zimmerman.

Character artwork by Amanda Niday.

Music by Rolemusic.

It is time! We recorded this episode back in January and saved it until it was time. It is time! It is time to put out your mason bee houses! Kelly describes the natural history of these powerful pollinators and Amanda quickly becomes infatuated. These belly-flopping bees are lemon-scented friends and they are as beautiful as the orchards they visit. And if you want these beneficial bugs in your backyard, you can set up a house for Osmia and other insects to use. Also in this episode, Amanda tries to show Kelly her ears.

Show notes and hero: https://www.bugsneedheroes.com/episodes/the-cottagecore-queen

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Hosted by Amanda Niday and Kelly Zimmerman with editing by Derek Conrad.

Created by Derek Conrad and Kelly Zimmerman.

Character artwork by Amanda Niday.

Music by Rolemusic.

Kelly and Amanda start this episode talking about oral surgery but pivot to something slightly less scary: The Last of Us. There are many types of infectious fungi, but we focus on the cordyceps/ophiocordyceps species which infect terrestrial arthropods. We talk about some of the common zombie tropes, how fungi partner with trees, and how ants avoid their own apocalyptic fungal infections. 

Show notes and hero: https://www.bugsneedheroes.com/episodes/the-last-of-ants

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Hosted by Amanda Niday and Kelly Zimmerman with editing by Derek Conrad.

Created by Derek Conrad and Kelly Zimmerman.

Character artwork by Amanda Niday.

Music by Rolemusic.

This is an encore that you probably already heard before! Producer Derek accidently published this a second time, but its a good recap on ant behaviors before the CORDYCEPS episode.

In this episode Amanda and Kelly discuss PAVEMENT ANTS (Tetramorium caespitum). You may have see them, their sand volcanos, or their wars.

Kelly's field notes and Amanda's artwork for this character: https://www.bugsneedheroes.com/episodes/the-anti-hero

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Created by Derek Conrad and Kelly Zimmerman.

Hosted by Amanda Niday and Kelly Zimmerman.

Artwork by Amanda Niday.

Music by Rolemusic.

This week we are joined by Dr. Pedram Daneshgar! We continue last week's discussion on plant super powers and their pollinators. We veer into plant defenses and regeneration, fungal relationships, gardening, and house plants! We tried to cover everything but if we didn't, we'd love another excuse to invite Ped back.

Ped's Lab Page: https://pedram34.wixsite.com/pedramdaneshgar

Ped's Monmouth University page: https://www.monmouth.edu/directory/profiles/pedram-daneshgar/

Ped's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geeky.gardener/

Ped's Twitter: https://twitter.com/pedpatrick

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Hosted by Amanda Niday and Kelly Zimmerman with editing by Derek Conrad.

Created by Derek Conrad and Kelly Zimmerman.

Character artwork by Amanda Niday.

Music by Rolemusic.

This week we are joined by Dr. Pedram Daneshgar! With the Bee Team almost completed, we wanted to talk to a botanist about pollination, but we quickly got off topic. We talk about invasive species, pollination, art history, and our favorite plant super heroes. This conversation was great and will continue into a second episode next week.

Ped's Lab Page: https://pedram34.wixsite.com/pedramdaneshgar

Ped's Monmouth University page: https://www.monmouth.edu/directory/profiles/pedram-daneshgar/

Ped's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geeky.gardener/

Ped's Twitter: https://twitter.com/pedpatrick

Send us questions and suggestions! [email protected]

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Hosted by Amanda Niday and Kelly Zimmerman with editing by Derek Conrad.

Created by Derek Conrad and Kelly Zimmerman.

Character artwork by Amanda Niday.

Music by Rolemusic.

The Bombardier Beetle is a bug we've wanted to cover since the beginning and now that Derek's basement isn't flooded, we can! There are over 500 species of these beetles with some surprising life histories and a shared appreciation of boiling enemies alive with fake acid.  Also Amanda and Kelly talk about weddings and dragons.

Kelly's field notes and Amanda's artwork for this character:

https://www.bugsneedheroes.com/episodes/explodey-joe

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Hosted by Amanda Niday and Kelly Zimmerman with editing by Derek Conrad.

Created by Derek Conrad and Kelly Zimmerman.

Character artwork by Amanda Niday.

Music by Rolemusic.

We continue to assemble our Bee Team with a gentle giant. We discuss their similarities and differences in life history to the other two bees we have discussed. And it wouldn't be a Bugs Need Heroes episode without sneaking a little bit of art history discussion at the end!

Kelly's field notes and Amanda's artwork for this character:

https://www.bugsneedheroes.com/episodes/the-fuzzy-friend

Send us questions! [email protected]

Join us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bugsneedheroes/

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Hosted by Amanda Niday and Kelly Zimmerman with editing by Derek Conrad.

Created by Derek Conrad and Kelly Zimmerman.

Character artwork by Amanda Niday.

Music by Rolemusic.

The cave we keep Producer Derek in unfortunately flooded and he hasn't been able to polish off this week's episode! But no worries, Amanda is here with some apologetic bug jokes to tide you over until (hopefully) next week! She does not apologize for their badness. Happy Holidays!