Bug Banter with the Xerces Society

Mar 04 2025 37 ep. 38 mins 104

Bug Banter with the Xerces Society Podcast artwork

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.

Copy RSS

Subscribe on Podcast Addict

Social and Emotional Learning: Making Science Accessible

Mar 04 2025 39 mins

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 Ent

Protecting Bees from Pesticides: Why EPA Regulations Need to Change

Feb 18 2025 42 mins

The United States Environmental Protection Agency, also known as the EPA, is tasked with regulating pesticides to protect people and the environment from their impacts. To test these impacts, the EPA uses honey bees. This might seem reasonable, but the honey bee is not native to North America and its social colony structure is unique and not representative of the thousands of nativ

Monarch Conservation: Tracking Migration with Rice-Sized Technology

Feb 04 2025 40 mins

The monarch butterfly is popular and currently in the news a lot. You might think that we know all there is to know about it, but there are many mysteries remaining, particularly about their migration and how they use their habitat. This may be more so for the western population that overwinters in California. Radio tracking has long been used for studying the movement and habitat

Insects in the Balance: Why Monitoring Matters

Jan 21 2025 42 mins

Bees, butterflies, beetles — populations of almost any group of insects you can name seem to be falling. But how do we know they are falling, how can we find out how well insects are doing? Monitoring is an essential tool for understanding the abundance and distribution of species, as well as how they respond to conservation efforts. To explore this further, we are talking with M

The Power of Policy: Insect Protection Through State Authority

Jan 07 2025 35 mins

In one of our first episodes we spoke with Sarina Jepsen, the director of our Endangered Species team, about what it means for a species to be federally listed, specifically through the Endangered Species Act. However, species can also be listed through individual states, but not all states are the same, and some states don’t have legislation to protect insects. It is an interest

The Secret Lives of San Diego Zoo Insects

Dec 17 2024 42 mins

Many of us likely have childhood memories of a zoo visit: gibbons swinging above us, lions pacing, a polar bear taking a plunge. Zoos also can play an important role in conservation, particularly for insects. One example is the work done at the San Diego Zoo to help invertebrates by solving mysteries about their habitat and life cycle needs, in some cases bringing back species on t

Buzzing Together: The Bumble Bee Atlas and the Power of Community Science

Dec 03 2024 31 mins

Community science is critical to conservation efforts and the Bumble Bee Atlas is no exception. Volunteers across the country have contributed to the Atlas program through bumble bee surveys, providing crucial information on bumble bee abundance and distribution. This information informs conservation efforts and makes a real difference. To tell us more about the Bumble Bee Atlas ar

Dragonflies and Damselflies: A Life's Journey from Water to the Sky

Nov 19 2024 45 mins

When we see a dragonfly, we normally see adults, which are capable of impressive aerobatics and have astonishing eyesight. Yet these fearsome aerial predators began life underwater, and when they undergo the transformation from nymph to adult they also change from water to air. Dragonflies truly are amazing! Joining us to talk about these incredible animals is Dr. Jessica Ware from

Revival of the Fender's Blue Butterfly: A Conservation Story

Nov 05 2024 45 mins

We all love a success story and what better tale to tell than the one about the Fender’s blue? Once thought extinct, this butterfly was rediscovered 35 years ago, since when it has made a comeback thanks to hard work by dedicated scientists, land owners, agency staff, and many others. To tell us this story of hope, we are joined today by two people whose long-time collaboration h

Mysteries of the Moth: More Than Meets the Eye

Oct 15 2024 43 mins

Moths are largely creatures of the night, which means they may not get as much publicity as their day-flying relative, butterflies. Moths are more diverse than butterflies, probably more abundant, and most certainly play a key role in the natural world. Honestly, moths are some of the coolest insects and we are excited to highlight them in today’s episode. Joining us to talk abou