Bug Banter with the Xerces Society
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.
Episodes
69 episodes
The Secret Life of Millipedes
Millipedes. Do they really have a thousand feet? To answer this and many other much more sensible questions, we are joined today by two people who know way more about these largely overlooked animals than I do, Drs Ben Jantzen and Jackson Means...
Beyond the Backyard: Building Pollinator Habitat in the Community
We spend a lot of time talking about how we can create habitat for pollinators in yards, but there are other spaces too. So if you don’t have a yard or even if you do and you want to expand your impact, no problem! Today we are going to explore...
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Goodbye Grass, Hello Bugs: Bringing Life Back to Our Yards
The color green is associated with a clean, healthy environment. When we see a green space, we often think it’s good, whether it is a beautiful forest or a neighborhood lawn. All plants provide for wildlife, right? Unfortunately, no. Some lands...
The Story of a Little Blue Butterfly: The Karner Blue
The Xerces Society is named for a blue butterfly, the Xerces blue, which went extinct in the 1940s. Luckily, there are other blues, some of which are doing fine and we can see regularly in our parks and neighborhoods, little butterflies who fla...
Poo Fighters and Nutrient Recyclers: the Incredible Dung Beetle
Few beetles are revered as sacred, seen as a symbol of rebirth, represented in ancient art, and to this day are used commercially for waste disposal, but dung beetles are. And if that’s not impressive enough they use the Milky Way to navigate. ...
The Beauty of Less: Xeriscaping for Pollinators
Xeriscaping is an important tool to conserve water and creates resiliency in the face of climate change, among other benefits. In this episode, we are going to explore the benefits of xeriscaping, how to do it, and how it can impact the conserv...
Speedy, Hairy, and Harmless: Solifuges
In this episode, we are going to explore the world of arachnids, but not the spiders you likely imagined after I said that. Nor ticks, nor mites, nor scorpions. No, today we are focusing on solifuges. “Soli-what?” you may be thinking.Jo...
Buying Bee Safe Plants: How to keep pesticides out of your garden
There may be a hidden danger lurking in the plants you purchase. Many plants sold at stores and nurseries, even native plants, are pre-treated with pesticides. So while trying to provide habitat for pollinators, you could be exposing them to ch...
Where the Wind Blows: Does wind speed affect overwintering monarchs?
**Correction: In this episode it states that the number of western monarchs in 2023 was 9,000 total. This was the total number for 2024.Monarch butterflies are known as long-distance travelers, flying hundreds or thousands of miles from ...
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Lessons from a Pollinator Gardener
There are countless ways to support the invertebrates we care about, and creating habitat in your own backyard or community is one we’ve often discussed. Today, we’ll explore real-world examples—what works, what doesn’t, and the exciting discov...
Making the Invisible Visible: Why Science Illustration Matters
Illustration is a powerful and important tool for conservation, bringing science to life and presenting complex information in an engaging format. In this episode, we are continuing our exploration of the role of art in science communication an...
Bring Back the Pollinators: Four Simple Steps to Save the Bees
For years now, there’s been a growing buzz—pun intended—about how to save our pollinators. Bees, butterflies, and so many other important species are struggling, but the good news is that each of us can make a big difference right in our own ba...
Walls That Speak: Inspiring Conservation Through Art
When science and art meet they create a nexus where inspiration and education combine to create impactful outcomes. From illustrated ID guides to building-sized murals, art has been interwoven into science communications for thousands of years ...
A Year in Invertebrate Conservation: Successes and the Road Ahead
Over the past year, we’ve explored a diversity of invertebrates, the threats they face, and the ways we can help support them. In this episode, we’ll take a closer look at invertebrate conservation—reflecting on this year’s successes and achiev...
Hidden in Plain Sight: Pesticide Contamination in Butterfly Host Plants
The State of the Butterflies in the United States project demonstrated that butterfly populations across the US are dramatically declining — they fell by more than 20% between the year 2000 and 2020. There are multiple causes, but one of them i...
Adaptations at Altitude: The Biology of Mountain Snails
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! ...
The Secret Lives of Bumble Bees: Nesting and Overwintering
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 wi...
The Salmonfly Project: Anglers, Insect Conservation, and the Future of Freshwater Streams
Insects play a critical role in rivers, lakes, and streams, acting as a vital food source for many animals and maintaining the health of these freshwater ecosystems. A few of these insects include: mayflies, stoneflies, and caddisflies. The bad...
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Bitter Nectar, Toxic Pollen: Pollinators and Plant Chemicals
We’ve spent some time on this podcast discussing pollinators and their life histories but today we are taking a deeper dive into plant chemistry to better understand the relationship between pollinators and their floral resources.To help...
Leave the Leaves or Lose the Insects
**Correction: The study described in this episode states that the total number of insects emerging from a square meter was 18,000. The correct number is 1,800.Leave the leaves has become something of a rallying cry and discussion topic i...
Monarchs & Pesticides: Understanding the Impact, Exploring the Solutions
In this episode, we will be taking a closer look at the monarch butterfly, but we won’t be talking about milkweed or nectar plants, or the migration and overwintering sites – at least, not directly. No, our focus is on pesticides and monarchs. ...
Understanding Native Bee Populations: The State of the Bees Initiative
How are native bee species in the US doing in light of the major threats they are facing? What more do we need to know to protect them? There are over 3,600 species of native bees in the United States, but we only know the conservation status (...
The Living Fence: Hedgerows as Havens for Insects
Co-host Matthew Shepherd came from Britain, a country known for its hedgerows. He grew up surrounded by hedges, sometimes many centuries old, crisscrossing the countryside. Early in Matthew's career he helped plant, maintain, and restore miles ...
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State of the Butterflies in the United States: A Roadmap for Recovery
I’m sure it’s not surprising to hear that butterflies are in decline, but the speed at which it is happening may be. Butterflies are being lost at a rate of 1.3% per year, which means more than one-fifth have disappeared over a 20-year period. ...
Bug Banter Live! Building Pollinator Habitat
One of the most effective ways to contribute to pollinator conservation is to provide the essential components of pollinator habitat. To celebrate Pollinator Week, we invited a panel of Xerces experts to help us answer audience questions in thi...
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