Episodes

  • Ep. 32: Everybody in the pool! Or not.
    Jun 30 2025

    Do you know who - or what - might be swimming alongside you this summer? Listen in and find out!

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    31 mins
  • Ep. 31: Lawn and order: pollinator unit
    Jun 16 2025

    Gardens specially designed for pollinators are more important than ever as insects face an apocalypse. UCR entomology professor Erin Wilson Rankin offers tips for starting a pollinator paradise of any size.

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    31 mins
  • Ep. 30: D.E.I. in ENT
    Jun 2 2025

    In entomology, your credentials matter less than your careful observations. Even Napoleon's aide-de-camp stopped in the middle of a battle to collect beetles for observation. Want to be a leading authority on an insect you love? Tune in, and roll up your sleeves.


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    30 mins
  • Ep. 29: Still unknown after all these years
    May 5 2025

    Think discovering a new species is rare? Think again. UCR entomologist and show co-host Doug Yanega reveals why naming a new insect might be easier than spotting a squirrel — and how deserts, microhabitats, and UV lights make all the difference. Come for the science. Stay for the midnight bug trapping in the mountains.

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    32 mins
  • Ep. 28: Inspector Maggot
    Apr 22 2025

    What can a fly tell us about a crime scene? In this episode, UC Riverside entomologist Alec Gerry explains how insects can help investigators reconstruct what really happened when a person or an animal has died under suspicious circumstances. Learn how forensic entomology turns life cycles into timelines — and maggots into expert witnesses.

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    33 mins
  • Ep. 27: Buzzards of the barnyard
    Apr 7 2025

    Not all villains wear capes—some have wings and a taste for cows. We talk to a fly expert who’s taking the bite out of barnyard pests.

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    31 mins
  • Ep. 26: The itch that isn't
    Mar 24 2025

    Only two kinds of insects are known to invade living human bodies: the mites that cause scabies, and lice. Despite this, there are people convinced their skin is infested with all manner of small insects. And the impacts of their imagined infestations are very real. Discussing this condition on today's episode is University of Georgia entomology professor Nancy Hinkle.

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    29 mins
  • Ep. 25: Flies wide shut
    Mar 11 2025

    The massive California fruit fly infestation of 2023 has been effectively shut down. UCR entomologist Bodil Cass joins the podcast to tell us how they did it, why it was such a problem in the first place, and how each of us can help prevent it from coming back.

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    29 mins