(Jessica Cornelison / KCUR 89.3)

It’s easy to advocate for saving pandas and elephants, but bugs are a harder sell. Look closer, though, and you’ll find tiny superheroes propping up entire ecosystems as pollinators, decomposers, predators and prey. We’ll wander the prairie with bison ranchers, in search of the dung beetles that work quiet miracles in huge piles of poop. And we’ll meet people overcoming their insect fears to help scientists catch and release bees, before they disappear.

Up From Dust is hosted and reported by Celia Llopis-Jepsen and David Condos. This episode was reported and written by Celia Llopis-Jepsen and produced by Mackenzie Martin with editing by Scott Canon. Mix by Celia Llopis-Jepsen and Byron Love.

Mike Jungen takes a good look at a bee he caught in Wichita to help scientists record species sightings.(Celia Llopis-Jepsen / Kansas News Service)