Arthro-Pod Ep 184: Salt Creek Tiger Beetle with Dr. Gary Brewer

In this episode of Arthropod, we explore the complex challenges of habitat restoration and species conservation through the lens of the endangered Salt Creek Tiger Beetle. Hosts are joined by special guest Dr. Gary Brewer to discuss the beetle’s unique ecological needs and the collaborative efforts to protect it—ranging from captive rearing and reintroduction projects to public outreach, community art, and the ongoing hurdles of conservation work.

Photo credit: UNL Department of Entomology

 

Guest: Dr. Gary Brewer, Professor of Insect Management, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

• https://entomology.unl.edu/person/dr-gary-brewer/
• https://www.entsoc.org/gary-brewer

 

Photo credit: UNL Department of Entomology

Photo credit: UNL Department of Entomology

Photo credit: UNL Department of Entomology

The City of Lincoln, Nebraska

Saline Wetlands. https://www.lincoln.ne.gov/City/Departments/Parks-and-Recreation/Parks-Facilities/Saline-Wetlands.

Saline Wetlands Conservation Partnership.  https://www.lincoln.ne.gov/files/sharedassets/public/v/1/parks-amp-rec/saline-wetlands/conservationpartnershipbrochure.pdf.

Henry Doorly Zoo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFDW90z5R5A.

Lower Platte South Natural Resources District.

https://www.lpsnrd.org/endangered-salt-creek-tiger-beetle-release.

https://www.lpsnrd.org/sites/default/files/files/89/2021-7-9_saline_wetlands.pdf.

Nebraska Game and Parks. https://outdoornebraska.gov/learn/nebraska-wildlife/nebraska-animals/insects/salt-creek-tiger-beetle/.

Nebraska Public Media. The Salt Creek tiger beetle: Lincoln's special bug. https://nebraskapublicmedia.org/en/news/news-articles/the-salt-creek-tiger-beetle-lincolns-special-bug/.

Topeka Zoo & Conservation Center.

https://topekazoo.org/conservation_sustainability/salt-creek-tiger-beetle-2/.

University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Platte Basin Time Lapse Project. https://plattebasintimelapse.com/greats-of-the-plains-frank-shoemaker/.

Spomer SM, Brust ML, Backlund DC, et al. 2008. Tiger Beetles of South Dakota & Nebraska. Department of Entomology, University of Nebraska. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/entomologyfacpub/1064.

Spomer SM, Brewer GJ, Fritz MI, et al. 2015. Determining Optimum Soil Type and Salinity for Rearing the Federally Endangered Salt Creek Tiger Beetle, Cicindela (Ellipsoptera) nevadica lincolniana Casey (Coleoptera: Carabidae: Cicindelinae). kent. 88(4):444–449. https://doi.org/10.2317/0022-8567-88.4.444

Spomer SM, Dunn SM, Fritz MI. 2021. A 30-year history of salt creek tiger beetle, Ellipsoptera nevadica lincolniana (Casey, 1916) (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae), visual

population estimates. Coleopt. Bull. 75(3):512–515. https://doi.org/10.1649/0010-065X-75.3.512.

US Fish & Wildlife Service

https://www.fws.gov/species/salt-creek-tiger-beetle-cicindela-nevadica-lincolniana

https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/species/342

Xerces Society. Salt Creek Tiger Beetle. https://xerces.org/endangered-species/species-profiles/at-risk-beetles/salt-creek-tiger-beetle.

 

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

Mike and Jody discussed natural enemies or arthropod predators out in the garden that help us with pest management. Here are images of some beneficial arthropods mentioned in the episode. 

Syrphid flies are also called hoverflies or flowerflies. Their adults are pollinators, while larvae perform different roles in the ecosystem. In these images, various syrphid fly larvae can be found where aphids are plentiful. Photo credit: J. Green

A predatory stink bug, the spined soldier bug is a generalist predator that may help out with insect pests, but they can also prey on things we like, including the monarch caterpillars. Photo credit: J. Green

Predatory hemipterans in the garden are generalist predators and may feed on pests, parasitoids, and pollinators. Photo credit: J. Green

Green lacewings can bee seen in all life stages around the landscape. Photo credit: J. Green

Brown lacewings do not lay their eggs on thin stalks, but their larvae are good aphid predators. Photo credit: J. Green

Both social and solitary wasps feed their larvae protein, usually in the form of invertebrates like caterpillars. Solitary wasps provision their nests with prey before laying an egg. Photo credit: J. Green

Ants play many roles in the ecosystem - if you see ants on your plants, you likely have a population of aphids. Photo credit: J. Green

Robber flies perch and actively hunt prey. Photo credit: J. Green

Wheel bugs in various life stages. Photo credit: J. Kalisch (eggs), J. Green

Seeing lady beetles/ladybugs may indicate a pest invasion on trees and plants, but ground beetles such as rove beetles and caterpillar hunters prey on a variety of small invertebrates crawling around the landscape. Photo credit: J. Green

Spiders are generalist predators, and may be active hunters like jumping spiders or sit-and-wait predators like the crab spider. Photo credit: J. Green 

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Arthro-Pod EP 173: Insect Farming with David Fluker

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? 

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Arthro-Pod EP 172: Bugs, Maps, and Math with Jeff Holland

 

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.

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Arthro-Pod EP 168 The Great Insect Fair at Penn State

 

Join Michael Skvarla of Penn State Entomology for a tour around the annual Great Insect Fair. 

Questions? Comments? 

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Follow the hosts on Twitter @bugmanjon, @JodyBugsmeUNL, and @MSkvarla36 and Bluesky @NapoleonicEnto

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Arthro-Pod EP 161: Insect Decline with Dr. Eliza Grames

 

Hello bug lovers and welcome back to Arthro-Pod! On today's show, the gang sits down with Dr. Eliza Grames of Binghamton University to talk about insects in decline. Terms like "insect apocalypse" are used in the media often and people have been asking Extension professionals about the gradual disappearance of things like fireflies and monarchs, Eliza helps to unpack what we know is happening with bug populations across the world. Plus, learn how scientists dissect huge stacks of data to better understand these declines and what fewer bugs might mean for things like birds. Tune in for all of it!

Show notes

https://elizagrames.github.io/

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2023989118

 Questions? Comments? 

Follow the show on Twitter @Arthro_Podshow

Follow the hosts on Twitter @bugmanjon, @JodyBugsmeUNL, and @MSkvarla36 and Bluesky @NapoleonicEnto

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Arthro-Pod EP 156: Nuptial Gifts, the Packages of Love

 

Hello lovers of bugs, as well as bugs who are in love! In today's episode, we take a journey through the world of nuptial gifts within the arthropods and find out why sometimes it is best to wrap a gift before trying to go on a date. Tune in to learn the basics of why nuptial gifts exist and how they can help facilitate the mating process and generation of the next generation. This one is a bit "spicy" so if you listen with kids, prepare for some biological talk!

Crickets preparing to mate after the exchange of a nuptial gifts (Photo by Biz Turnell, via https://entomologytoday.org/2020/02/14/nuptial-gifts-romantic-gestures-bug-insect-arthropod-world-valentines-day/)

Show notes

Insect (Order, Family)	Nuptial Gift	Purpose
Dung beetles (O: Coleoptera, F: Scarabaeidae)	Food in the form of a dung ball	https://academic.oup.com/beheco/article/21/2/424/323090 Part of courtship display, dung ball is used for food source to help her and the offspring
Fireflies (O: Coleoptera, F: Lampyridae) some species	Spermatophore contains sperm and nutrients	https://now.tufts.edu/2016/12/22/firefly-gift-giving-composition-nuptial-gifts-revealed Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2P8vKghAoh8   To obtain nutrients and fertilization occurs this way
Giant water bug (O: Hemiptera, M: Belostomatidae)	Small aquatic animals as prey (fish)	https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/eth.12416 Part of the courtship ritual, males carry the eggs
Aphids (O: Hemiptera, F: Aphididae)	“mating drop” droplet of nutrient-rich fluid	To obtain nutrients essential for reproduction
Crickets (O: Orthopera, F: Laupala cerasina	Several nuptial gifts before transferring genetic material	https://www.mpg.de/9686444/nuptial-feeding-female-crickets   https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00265-019-2705-9 Nuptial gifts improve the amount of genetic material successfully transferred from the final spermatophore to the female
Long-tailed dance flies (O: Diptera, F: Rhamphomyia longicauda	Nutrients	https://www.jstor.org/stable/23734479 Females do not hunt so they relay on the nuptial gifts. They fill their abdomens with air to look like their eggs are more mature so males will seek them out
Imported cabbagworm butterflies (O: Lepidoptera, F:	Nitrogen	https://www.thegraphicleader.com/opinion/columnists/the-changing-rules-of-romance-for-the-cabbage-white-butterfly
Scorpion flies (O: Mecoptera, F: Panorpidae)	Dead prey item	https://www.jstor.org/stable/4536380 https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22830480-100-heres-my-nuptial-gift-a-dead-planthopper-now-can-we-mate/   To appease the female and increase chances of successful mating

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Arthro-Pod EP 138: Debunking Entomology Urban Legends

Welcome back bug lovers! Today, we put on our mythbusting aprons and tackle some of the various misconceptions, myths, urban legends, and internet pranks that involve insects. We're covering everything from pest control via tree fruits to the legality of mantis murder. If you have a favorite insect urban legend, sound off on Twitter and let us know it. Maybe we can do a follow up episode!

Nature's bug bombs?

Show notes

Ultrasonic pest control

https://cals.arizona.edu/yavapai/anr/hort/byg/archive/ultrasonicpestcontroldevices2020.html

Cockroach eggs in envelopes

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/cockroach-eggs/ 

Earwig myths

https://www.popsci.com/environment/what-are-earwigs/ 

Hedge apples

https://hortnews.extension.iastate.edu/hedge-apples-pest-control-myth 

It's illegal to kill mantises 

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/kill-praying-mantis-illegal/ 

Butt spider attack 

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/two-striped-telamonia-spider/ 

Questions? Comments? 

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Follow the hosts on Twitter @bugmanjon, @JodyBugsmeUNL, and @MSkvarla36

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Arthro-Pod EP 135: The Arthro-Pod Gang Goes Home

Today's episode is a little different than our usual offering. Recently, we were honored to be invited to present at Purdue's Department of Entomology as seminar speakers. One of our former guests, Dr. Krystal Hans, put together this special opportunity for us to come "home" to the department we all graduated from! It truly was a treat for us and we wanted to share the presentation we gave. You can listen to it here today, we hope you enjoy!

You will learn about how the show got started, the history of entomology in podcasting, and some behind the scenes stats about the pod!

Questions? Comments? 

Follow the show on Twitter @Arthro_Podshow

Follow the hosts on Twitter @bugmanjon, @JodyBugsmeUNL, and @MSkvarla36

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