Bug Banter with the Xerces Society – Details, episodes & analysis

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Bug Banter with the Xerces Society

The Xerces Society

Science

Frequency: 1 episode/15d. Total Eps: 73

Join us as we explore the fascinating world of invertebrates and discover how to help these extraordinary animals.

The Xerces Society is a nationwide non-profit organization that works to conserve invertebrates and their habitats.

For more information go to xerces.org.

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Score global : 57%

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Adaptations at Altitude: The Biology of Mountain Snails

Season 2 · Episode 22

Tuesday, November 4, 2025 • Duration 27:19

Given the name of our podcast, it is no surprise that we talk a lot about bugs, but in this episode, we are stretching our invertebrate muscles and looking at a group of invertebrates that we haven’t considered before—mountain snails!

To help us learn more about these fascinating animals is Dr. Lusha Tronstad. Lusha is the Invertebrate Zoology Program Manager for the Wyoming Natural Diversity Database at the University of Wyoming. The WNDD program is responsible for developing and maintaining data on the distribution, natural history, conservation status, and habitat requirements of rare invertebrate species in the state. Lusha has a Ph.D. in Zoology and Physiology from University of Wyoming and is interested in food webs, invasive species, conservation, bioassessment and biogeochemistry, while working in aquatic ecosystems and with pollinators.

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Photo: Lusha Tronstad

Thank you for listening! For more information go to xerces.org/bugbanter.

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The Secret Lives of Bumble Bees: Nesting and Overwintering

Season 2 · Episode 21

Tuesday, October 21, 2025 • Duration 37:08

We’ve all heard the familiar buzz of a bumble bee. Their fuzzy bodies fly around looking for pollen and nectar. But where do bumble bees nest? Where do they spend the winter? And how can we support this part of their lifecycle?

To talk with us about this topic is Genevieve Pugesek, Xerces Endangered Species Conservation Biologist. Jenny is one of the project managers of the Bumble Bee Atlas, a community science project aimed at tracking and conserving bumble bees. She works with Atlas programs in Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, and Minnesota. She is broadly interested in conservation biology, land management, and animal natural history. She earned her Ph.D. at Tufts University, where she studied the nesting and overwintering ecology of bumble bees.

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Photo: Kent McFarland Flickr CC 2.0

Thank you for listening! For more information go to xerces.org/bugbanter.

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Pollinator Check-Up: Bee Health and Novel Monitoring Tools

Season 2 · Episode 12

Tuesday, June 17, 2025 • Duration 41:51

In the face of insect decline, it is critical for us to understand pollinator health both in terms of influencing factors and how to monitor those impacts. Today we are specifically focusing on bees.

To talk about some exciting research in this field is Dr. Laura (la-u-ra) Figueroa (fig-eh-row-ah). Laura is an Assistant Professor in the Environmental Conservation Department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She was previously a National Science Foundation post-doctoral research fellow, and completed her PhD in entomology at Cornell University. Laura is broadly interested in insect conservation, with a focus on the health of pollinators in changing landscapes and the impacts of climate change. She has worked in temperate regions (primarily the Northeastern US) as well as in the tropics (in Costa Rica and in Colombia), and her active research program seeks to answer pressing questions in the field of pollinator conservation.

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Photo: Sara Morris / CC BY-NC 2.0

Thank you for listening! For more information go to xerces.org/bugbanter.

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How Habitat Kits Are Helping Save Pollinators

Season 2 · Episode 11

Tuesday, June 3, 2025 • Duration 34:43

Creating habitats with native plants is one of the most impactful ways to help invertebrates. One of the programs at Xerces is helping people do just that by providing free Habitat Kits to communities in several regions of the US.

Joining us to discuss our Habitat Kit Program is Giovanni Di Franco, Xerces Endangered Species Conservation Biologist and Pollinator Habitat Specialist. Gio is working to develop the habitat kit program in southern California, especially in the greater Los Angeles area.

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Photo: Nancy Kirchhoff

Thank you for listening! For more information go to xerces.org/bugbanter.

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Stories from the Prairie: Life in a Resilient Ecosystem

Season 2 · Episode 10

Tuesday, May 20, 2025 • Duration 46:36

Prairies are an ecosystem that historically spanned the center of this continent from the Rocky Mountains to east of the Mississippi and from Texas north to Saskatchewan. Although less than 5% of that prairie remains today, it is critical habitat for a number of invertebrates. Prairies are incredibly diverse and hold many exciting stories.

To help us explore prairies and their critters is prairie ecologist Chris Helzer. Chris works for the Nature Conservancy as the Director of Science and Stewardship in Nebraska, where, among other things, he supervises TNC’s work on the Platte River Prairies and the Niobrara Valley Preserve. Chris also works to raise awareness about the value of prairies and prairie conservation through his photography, writing, and presentations. Chris is the author of The Ecology and Management of Prairies in the Central United States and Hidden Prairie: Photographing Life in One Square Meter.

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Photo: Justin Meissen/Flickr-CC

Thank you for listening! For more information go to xerces.org/bugbanter.

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Greenroofs, Solar Arrays, And Urban Farms: Insect Conservation In Human-Dominated Ecosystems

Season 2 · Episode 9

Tuesday, May 6, 2025 • Duration 46:35

Most of the natural world has been altered by humans in some way. Ecosystems that are dominated by humans or man-made structures, such as cities, can still provide meaningful and essential habitat for insects. Today, we are going to discuss research being done in various human-dominated landscapes to answer the question: how do we restore and conserve insects in these ecosystems?

We are joined by Dr. Chelse Prather, Associate Professor and Environmental Biology Coordinator at the University of Dayton. As an ecologist, Chelse has worked with insect communities in forests, grasslands, and urban ecosystems. She has managed a variety of projects from understanding basic insect ecology, like what nutrients limit insect communities, to very applied projects, such as how the installation of solar arrays affects insect communities.

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Photo by Matthew Shepherd

Thank you for listening! For more information go to xerces.org/bugbanter.

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For the Love of Flies: The Unsung Heroes of the Insect World

Season 2 · Episode 8

Tuesday, April 15, 2025 • Duration 45:08

Flies are amazing insects that play critical roles in our environment including pollination, waste disposal, pest control, and as a link in the food web. Flies are greatly diverse in colors, shape, size, and where they live. Butterflies and bees probably generate more enthusiasm, but it’s time to change that.

To talk about flies with us, we are joined by Dr. Erica McAlister, who works at the Natural History Museum in London, where she is the principal curator for Diptera and Siphonaptera, i.e., flies and fleas. Erica takes a particular interest in three groups of flies, fungus gnats, assassin flies, and mosquitoes. The latter means that inevitably she is involved with many projects related to identification of mosquitoes and which ones are associated with spread of malaria and other diseases and viruses, but her experience is much broader, including teaching entomology in Dominica and studying the invertebrates — more specifically, the flies — of that island. Finally, Erica is also the award-winning author of four books, including The Secret Life of Flies and The Inside Out of Flies.

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Cover Photo: Whitney Cranshaw - Bugwood CC - Tachinid fly (Trichopoda pennipes)

Thank you for listening! For more information go to xerces.org/bugbanter.

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Plastic Bands, Pesticides, and Deadly Drift: A Study on Mosquito Spray

Season 2 · Episode 7

Tuesday, April 1, 2025 • Duration 39:47

Who doesn’t know the high-pitched whine of a nearby mosquito? We know they can be a nuisance, and in many regions, a health risk because of their ability to spread diseases. Some communities do public control campaigns, and increasingly, companies are offering home spraying of yards. But, the insecticides used in these sprays are broadly toxic to insects, and the risk they pose to pollinators isn't fully understood. In the summer of 2023, Xerces did a study looking at how these insecticides spread across the landscape.

Joining us to talk about the study is Aaron Anderson, who has been a member of Xerces’ pesticide reduction team for a couple of years. Aaron’s work focuses on reducing pesticide use in residential landscapes, including promoting alternative pest-control measures and pollinator-friendly gardening practices. Prior to joining Xerces, he researched pollinator conservation in urban landscapes, restored habitat for several endangered butterfly species, and worked in insect biocontrol. If that wasn’t cool enough, Aaron has been on Bug Banter before, also talking about mosquitoes.

Photo: Woodland Mosquito-Katja Schulz-Flickr CC

Thank you for listening! For more information go to xerces.org/bugbanter.

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The Underground Heroes: Earthworms

Season 2 · Episode 6

Tuesday, March 18, 2025 • Duration 45:17

Earthworms. They may elicit memories of digging through the dirt, probably as a child, and picking them up to discover what they are. But what do they do other than slink around and bury themselves in the soil?

To help us explore this fascinating invertebrate are Jennifer Hopwood and Stephanie Frischie. Regular listeners will remember Jennifer — she’s been on Bug Banter before to talk about beetles and wasps. She is a Senior Pollinator Conservation Specialist with Xerces, providing resources and training for pollinator and beneficial insect habitat management and restoration in a variety of landscapes. Stephanie is Xerces’s Agronomist and Native Plant Materials Specialist. Stephanie works to improve the supply and growth of important plant species for the restoration of insect habitat. Additionally, and most pertinent to today’s conversation, she leads the Xerces Soil Life project that focuses on soil invertebrate ecology and soil health.

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Photo credit: S Shepherd Schizoform, CC 2.0

Thank you for listening! For more information go to xerces.org/bugbanter.

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Social and Emotional Learning: Making Science Accessible

Season 2 · Episode 5

Tuesday, March 4, 2025 • Duration 39:02

More than ever, communicating scientific information effectively is critical to conservation efforts. But how exactly do we do that?

To explore this topic is award-winning science communicator and entomologist, Gwen Pearson. In addition to her work writing for WIRED Magazine, Highlights For Kids, and other science news outlets, she's run an insect zoo and worked as an Extension Entomologist in various roles. She's now retired and is an Outreach Ambassador for the Xerces Society.

Thank you for listening! For more information go to xerces.org/bugbanter.

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Bug Banter with the Xerces Society – Details, episodes & analysis

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Bug Banter with the Xerces Society – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

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Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities