Tales from the Trachae

Steurman (the original spelling) talks about insects eating birds, and Lee queries Ted about the insect-bird decline correlation. The tangled bank and iNaturalist are discussed along with the music of Wagner and of course, listing. Thanks to Craig Dodson for being a great birder, the movies Listers and Big Year, the Wildwoods for a snippet of Blackbird, and the Cornell Lab for the disappearing bird data. Finally... are starlings doing ok?

Ted Floyd joins John and Lee on Hexapodcast to talk about how he became the editor of BIRDING and author of quality bird guides. But the real discussion centers on the question: Do birds really eat a lot of insects? Are they important as predators? How do I become a LISTER?

John and Lee are joined again by Christian to dissect the fly. Lots of fun fly facts and diversity here. You're gonna love it.

Stireman and Dyer are joined by special guest Christian Conners to celebrate the entomologist and singer-songwriter, Tom Waits. We dissect his brilliant song, "The Fly."

John and Lee talk to Chris about his work on butterfly declines and discuss: 1. definition of insect declines; 2. history of "insect decline" as a major subdiscipline; 3. causes of declines. Plus: the trolly problem, a short clip from a Dolly Parton butterfly duet, an annoying fly, and some really silly jokes.

Dyer describes finding flies around a body he found in the street then discusses forensic entomology with Stireman, who studies flies. We could definitely do a sequel on this one....

This episode is all about insect sex with a lot of inappropriate and cringe-worthy jokes, music, and other fails. It is probably worth listening to and it is definitely fact-based... just silly.

Fun, fun, fun discussions with Dr. Amy Trowbridge about bark beetles and so much more. Part 2. There may be some good jokes and a few political comments in this episode.

A hilarious episode in which Dr. Trowbridge tells us all about bark beetles, the forests they are affecting, and some chemical ecology. Dyer and Stireman pitch in a few facts about insect brains.

How do insects breathe and other horror stories. This is a pretty good episode.