Bugs Need Heroes

By BugsNeedHeroesScience Education Kids & Family Nature Pets & Animals

Bugs Need Heroes episodes

December 18, 2023 Ms Johnson discovers the meaning of CHRISTMAS BEETLES
This episode we decided to three topics: christmas beetles, two species of hairstreak butterflies which feed on mistletoe, and where bugs go during the winter. Tangents include Hallmark movies, Norse mythology, and yule goats. And assistant producer Desdemona interrupts to have some cat yogurt.

Field notes and Amanda's artwork: https://www.bugsneedheroes.com/episodes/christmas-beetles

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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 with assistance from Desdemona Conrad
Created by Derek Conrad and Kelly Zimmerman.
Character artwork by Amanda Niday.
Music is Ladybug Castle by Rolemusic.
1 hr 8 min
December 04, 2023 The Doodlebug (ANTLIONS)
Amanda says she's never heard of this bug, but I know she has because it was on an episode of Kratt's Creatures that we watched as kids. However, it is nothing like either ants or lions. This puny predator puts its prey in pits! Tangents include pigeons, anime, and Jurassic Park vs The Hunger Games. Somehow, we never even mentioned the Sarlacc Pit from Star Wars.

Check out the character art and Kelly's Field Notes here: https://www.bugsneedheroes.com/episodes/the-doodlebug

We adore the Doodlebug Oracle on Antlionpit.com

Send us questions and suggestions! [email protected]
Join us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bugsneedheroes/
Join us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bugsneedheroes
Join us on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BugsNeedHeroes
Hosted by Amanda Niday and Kelly Zimmerman with editing by Derek Conrad with assistance from Chelsey Bawden.
Created by Derek Conrad and Kelly Zimmerman.
Character artwork by Amanda Niday.
Music is Ladybug Castle by Rolemusic.
1 hr 4 min
November 20, 2023 Kelly’s Spidersona (WOLF SPIDERS)
Kelly finally saw Across The Spider-verse! There are some mild spoilers in her review and the discussion that follows. In this episode, we discuss Kelly's favorite spider family: Lycosidae. Amanda designs a costume for if Kelly was bitten by a radioactive wolf spider. Tangents include yelling cats, fearful husbands, and the cursed knowledge of bird songs.

Send us questions and suggestions! [email protected]
Join us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bugsneedheroes/
Join us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bugsneedheroes
Join us on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BugsNeedHeroes
Hosted by Amanda Niday and Kelly Zimmerman with editing by Derek Conrad with assistance from Chelsey Bawden.
Created by Derek Conrad and Kelly Zimmerman.
Character artwork by Amanda Niday.
Music is Ladybug Castle by Rolemusic.
1 hr 17 min
November 06, 2023 Bug Type Need Heroes (POKEMON with Just The Zoo of Us)
We invited Ellen Weatherford of Just The Zoo of Us podcast on to talk about Pokémon. As of generation 9, there are at least 92 different bug-type Pokémon. We discuss the hits, the misses, and the weird biology of these little guys and how they compare to the real world insect inspirations. Don't worry if you aren't familiar with the games, Kelly wasn't either.

Visual Aid for the parody of Fact or Fiction.

Check out /u/FallinDevast's fakemon on reddit.

Ellen's links!
Her podcast: Just The Zoo of Us
Her Instagram: ElksNeedle
Her TikTok: @ellen.weatherford

Send us questions and suggestions! [email protected]
Join us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bugsneedheroes/
Join us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bugsneedheroes
Join us on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BugsNeedHeroes
Hosted by Amanda Niday and Kelly Zimmerman with editing by Derek Conrad with assistance from Chelsey Bawden.
Created by Derek Conrad and Kelly Zimmerman.
Character artwork by Amanda Niday.
Music is Ladybug Castle by Rolemusic.
1 hr 50 min
October 31, 2023 ENCORE: Bats Need Heroes (DC’s BATMAN Special)
This is a special encore for Halloween. This episode was originally released in October 2022. A few new bat species have been recognized since then according to Bat Conservation International and the Bat Species of the World: A taxonomic and geographic database.

In this episode, Kelly and Amanda invite Producer Derek on to talk about his heroes: the bats! What if Bruce Wayne had been bitten by a radioactive bat? Is Robin really the perfect partner for the caped crusader? Do bats really love a dark night? And most importantly, what is the cutest bat?

Some references on the episode page: https://www.bugsneedheroes.com/episodes/bats-need-heroes

Send us questions! [email protected]
Join us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bugsneedheroes/
Join us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bugsneedheroes
Join us on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BugsNeedHeroes
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 is Ladybug Castle by Rolemusic.
1 hr 17 min
October 23, 2023The Harbinger (MOTHMAN)
For a spooky treat/trick, this episode we give a recap of Kelly's visit to Portland and discuss some of our favorite cryptids with special focus on the mysterious appearance of the Homer Simpson of Cryptids in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Tangents include swooping, Richard Gere, and legitimate chili strategies.

Also Mentioned in the Episode:
Eyeshine chart from a cryptid website
The Chapman School Swifts in Portland
The Entomological Society of America

View the artwork and Kelly's Field Notes on our website: https://www.bugsneedheroes.com/episodes/the-harbingerhttps://www.bugsneedheroes.com/episodes/the-brown-beetle

Send us questions and suggestions! [email protected]
Join us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bugsneedheroes/
Join us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bugsneedheroes
Join us on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BugsNeedHeroes
Hosted by Amanda Niday and Kelly Zimmerman with editing by Derek Conrad with some assistance from Chelsey Bawden.
Created by Derek Conrad and Kelly Zimmerman.
Character artwork by Amanda Niday.
Music by Rolemusic.
1 hr 12 min
October 09, 2023 Lightfast! (SHELLAC, CARMINE, BEESWAX, TYRIAN PURPLE, IRON GALL INK)
We're back! Since Kelly is still working on becoming Doctor Kelly, Amanda hosts this episode all about bug and bug adjacent derivatives. Tangents include art history (OBVIOUSLY), air travel, and children being scared in grocery stores.

Send us questions and suggestions! [email protected]
Join us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bugsneedheroes/
Join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BugsNeedHeroes
Join us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bugsneedheroes
Join us on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BugsNeedHeroes
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.
1 hr 17 min
September 10, 2023 September Diapause
We will be back in October.

If you are attending Rose City Comic Con on September 23, please say hello. We will presenting the panel "Wolverines Don't Howl: Actual Animal Super Powers," an earlier version of which eventually lead to this podcast. (Producer Derek will *attempt* to record it for our youtube page)

Send us questions and suggestions! [email protected]
Join us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bugsneedheroes/
Join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BugsNeedHeroes
Join us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bugsneedheroes
Join us on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BugsNeedHeroes
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.
4 min
August 28, 2023 The Trash-Man with Arthro-Pod (COCKROACHES)
This week we are joined by the entomologists at Arthro-Pod to talk about cockroaches! This is our biggest episode yet and conversation covers a wide range of tangents including our The Blue Beetle (the movie is good!), sexy Pokémon, how to best poison each other, "murder hornets", Danny Devito, the Elon Musk/Zuckerberg fight, and loose bugs. This is also the first episode where the topic of the show makes an appearance. So anyways, I started blatting...
And Kelly still hasn't seen Across the Spider-verse.

Follow our guests on Twitter @Arthro_Podshow, @bugmanjon, @JodyBugsmeUNL, and @MSkvarla36. Get their show through Apple Podcast, Spotify, or your favorite podcatching app!

You can see the cockroach field notes at https://www.bugsneedheroes.com/episodes/the-trash-man-and-tergal-lad
You can see all our guest episodes at https://www.bugsneedheroes.com/bug-heroes

Send us questions and suggestions! [email protected]
Join us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bugsneedheroes/
Join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BugsNeedHeroes
Join us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bugsneedheroes
Join us on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BugsNeedHeroes
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.
1 hr 38 min
August 14, 2023 The Brown Beetle (DUNG BEETLES)
We talk about poop in this episode. A lot. You know this bug from the nature documentaries, but with seven thousand species, there's a lot you don't know about this romantic beetle.

Tangents include whether Kelly has seen Across the Spider-verse yet (no), Julie of the Wolves, DC's Blue Beetle (no spoilers), Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, and Kelly learns about a guy on a buffalo (a series of music videos by Jomo & The Possum Posse recut from a 1978 film). And we all learn about Amanda.

View the artwork and Kelly's Field Notes on our website: https://www.bugsneedheroes.com/episodes/the-brown-beetle

Send us questions and suggestions! [email protected]
Join us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bugsneedheroes/
Join us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bugsneedheroes
Join us on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BugsNeedHeroes
Hosted by Amanda Niday and Kelly Zimmerman with editing by Derek Conrad with some assistance from Chelsey Bawden.
Created by Derek Conrad and Kelly Zimmerman.
Character artwork by Amanda Niday.
Music by Rolemusic.
1 hr 17 min

About Bugs Need Heroes

From the publisher's feed

On each episode of Bugs Need Heroes, an ecologist and an illustrator team-up to create a new insect-inspired super hero. The finished characters are posted to our social media pages and at BugsNeedHeroes.com