Arthro-Pod Ep 181: The Role of Beneficial Insects in Pest Management

In this episode of Arthropod, hosts Jody Green and Michael Skvarla discuss the importance of beneficial insects in gardening, emphasizing integrated pest management (IPM) strategies. They explore how to identify and encourage beneficial insects, the role of predators, and the significance of plant selection in creating a healthy ecosystem.  Keywords: gardening, beneficial insects, pests, integrated pest management, entomology, insect identification, plant selection, ecosystem, natural pest control, urban gardening You can find show notes on the blog.   Get the show through Apple Podcast, Spotify, or your favorite podcatching app! If you can spare a moment, we appreciate when you subscribe to the show on those apps or when you take time to leave a review!   Older episodes can be accessed through Archive.org.

Welcome back to Arthro-Pod! In this episode, Michael explores arthropods of the Elder Scrolls universe, including those featured in the games Arena, Daggerfall, Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim, and Elder Scrolls Online. Because this is such a visual episode, you can find show notes on the blog.   Get the show through Apple Podcast, Spotify, or your favorite podcatching app! If you can spare a moment, we appreciate when you subscribe to the show on those apps or when you take time to leave a review!   Older episodes can be accessed through Archive.org.

Welcome back bug lovers! If you live in the US, specifically in about 12 different states in the east and midwest, you might be hearing the delightful songs of periodical cicadas. If you have ever wondered how these insects have been studied throughout the years or what they have meant historically, this is the podcast episode for you! Join Jody, Jonathan, and Michael as they go back through time and discuss periodical cicadas and Native American culture, what the pilgrims thought they were, and how the discovery of 13 and 17 year cicadas occurred. By the end, you might be tempted to climb a tree and scream just so you can join the chorus of history!   Get the show through Apple Podcast, Spotify, or your favorite podcatching app! If you can spare a moment, we appreciate when you subscribe to the show on those apps or when you take time to leave a review!   Older episodes can be accessed through Archive.org.

Greetings Arthro-Pod listeners! This week, Michael leads the Arthro-Pod team in a discussion about the abdomen. This is the latest in our series about the different parts of insects and other hexapods. Other episodes include 162: The Insect Head 144: Insect Wings 143: Insect Legs 130: Chew, Digest, Poop - How Insects Eat   While many might consider the abdomen to be a boring hotdog, we find out how there's actually a lot going on both inside and outside of the abdomen.       Get the show through Apple Podcast, Spotify, or your favorite podcatching app! If you can spare a moment, we appreciate when you subscribe to the show on those apps or when you take time to leave a review!   Older episodes can be accessed through Archive.org.

In this episode the hosts of Arthro-pod interview Dr. Judy Wu-Smart about the pros and cons of the European honey bees. The conversation touches on the historical context of honey bees in North America, the challenges of colony collapse disorder, the implications of neonicotinoids in agriculture, the impact of pesticides on pollinator health, and the regulatory challenges surrounding bee conservation. The discussion highlights the complex relationship between wild and managed bees, emphasizing the need for diverse pollinators in ecosystems.

Greetings Arthro-Pod listeners! This week, Michael continues the story of Walter Reed and the discovery that yellow fever is transmitted by mosquitoes. Specifically, we talk about the major players on the Yellow Fever Board, the experiments they did with live human subjects, and how they determined that mosquitos, and not fomites, are how yellow fever infects each new victim.

Greetings Arthro-Pod listeners! This week, Michael introduces us to yellow fever. Specifically, we cover the first major outbreak of the disease in the United States in Philadelphia in 1793 and the broader history of yellow fever in the United States through the 1800s. This sets the stage for the story of Walter Reed and his discovery that yellow fever is transmitted by mosquitoes, which quickly led it it's eradication from Cuba and elsewhere in the world.   We first discussed yellow fever in episodes 89 and 91, which can be found on Archive.org.   Questions? Comments?  Get the show through Apple Podcast, Spotify, or your favorite podcatching app! If you can spare a moment, we appreciate when you subscribe to the show on those apps or when you take time to leave a review!

Hello bug lovers! In this exciting edition of Arthro-Pod, Jody leads Mike and Jon through an episode entirely dedicated to the multicolored Asian lady beetle. It is known by many names, the multicolored lady bug, the Halloween beetle, and the fake ladybug amongst others. You may have seen them in your home just recently or been unlucky enough to feel their bite! In this episode, you'll learn how they appeared in the US, the other ways they can pose problems, and ponder the reasons why people would call a real member of the Coccinelidae a "fake lady beetle".  MALB spending the winter with Jody Green Show Notes Mike refers to Harmonia axyridis Wikipedia page to see variations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonia_axyridis   Bugguide: https://bugguide.net/node/view/397   Lost lady bug project: http://www.lostladybug.org/  Convergent lady beetle Journal article about MALB and dogs after ingestion in Toxicon by Stocks and Lindsey 2008:  https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0041010108003395#fig1   A Review of Ladybug Taint in Wine: Origins, Prevention, and Remediation by Pickering and Botezau 2021 https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/26/14/4341   Journal article about MALB and seasonal allergens: Nakazawa et al. 2007 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091674906030235?via%3Dihub  Goetz 2008: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/5423147_Harmonia_axyridis_ladybug_invasion_and_allergy   Information about molecule, harmonine from Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Germany https://www.mpg.de/7246516/Asian-lady-beetles   Vacuum with pantyhose method: https://www.mypmp.net/2016/05/19/recommend-this-method-to-bed-bug-afflicted-clients/   MALB eggs MALB larvae                                         MALB pupae                                                    Newly emerged MALB adult and pupal shell Adult MALB going to town on some aphids Questions? Comments?  Contact the show at [email protected] the hosts on social media:@bugmanjon and @napoleonicento on BlueSky Get the show through Apple Podcast, Spotify, or your favorite podcatching app!If you can spare a moment, we appreciate when you subscribe to the show on those apps or when you take time to leave a review!

Hello bug lovers! Today's episode is a special treat as the Arthro-Pod gang is joined by David Fluker of Fluker Farms and Soldier Fly Technologies to talk about tending to crickets, soldier flies, and more. David is a second generation insect farmer and self proclaimed "ento-preneur", tune in to learn about the history of Fluker Farms, the live feeder insect industry, and what the future may hold for those who use insects as tiny livestock! We for one welcome the age of the solider fly! Show Notes Fluker's main website https://flukerfarms.com/  Soldier Fly Technologies website: https://www.soldierfly.com/ If you would like to access Fluker's teaching aids we wanted to highlight them here: https://flukerfarms.com/reptile-u/knowledge-base/teaching-aids/  Are you interested in joining the ranks of insect farming? Check out the North American Coalition for Insect Agriculture https://nacia.org/  Check out this tour of the farm via YouTube https://flukerfarms.com/tour-of-the-farm/ A vintage "I ate a Bug Club" button Questions? Comments?  Get the show through Apple Podcast, Spotify, or your favorite podcatching app!If you can spare a moment, we appreciate when you subscribe to the show on those apps or when you take time to leave a review!

  On this episode of Arthro-Pod, join Mike and Jon as they catch up with Jeff Holland of Bugs, Maps, and Math. Jeff was previously a professor at Purdue, where Mike worked in his lab for several semesters. While they catch up on good times, we also learn all about Jeff's insect consulting company, modeling of insect dispersal, and the sorcery of spatial ecology. Tune in! Jeff Holland, formerly a professor at Purdue University and now the owner of Bugs, Maps, and Math consulting services. Jeff and two of his graduate students, Hossam and Kapil, preparing for summer field collecting. A longhorn beetle in a rearing cage. Questions? Comments?  Get the show through Apple Podcast, Spotify, or your favorite podcatching app!If you can spare a moment, we appreciate when you subscribe to the show on those apps or when you take time to leave a review!