what i learned about pollinators and other beneficial insects in 2018

WHAT ARE INSECTS THINKING–or if that sounds like I’m anthropomorphizing, what at least are insects desiring? The more we humans seek pollinator connections in our gardens, and strive to create a piece of habitat and not just a purely pretty backyard, the more we want to get inside their heads and understand their cravings, right?

I have the pleasure of interviewing entomologists and ecologists pretty regularly on my public radio program and podcast, and in 2018 a few conversations touched on my question about what insects are after.

The year ends in my northern garden with outdoor insect activity at its low point, but I’ve nevertheless been thinking of them, and of some key takeaways from interviews this past year about “the little things that run the world,” as Harvard biologist Edward O. Wilson famously called insects and other invertebrates. I rounded up some of what I learned about insects in 2018.

Read along as you listen to the Dec. 31, 2018 edition of my show and podcast using the player just below the next photo. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).

WHAT ARE FIREFLIES thinking about with all that flashing on summer nights? Apparently firefly experts have various views on the many factors involved in this signature behavior, but I got a streamlined answer from Lynn Frierson Faust, author of the recent field guide “Fireflies, Glow-worms, and Lightning Bugs” from University of Georgia Press. (Our entire interview is here.)

All the experts, including Lynn, agree on a couple of things: It’s male fireflies who fly around flashing, and what they are thinking is about a hookup. And they especially agree that it’s hard to get your flashing seen by a female

Insects how-to Nature radio podcasts insects & worms Georgia