This episode was originally recorded in Spring 2025, but an issue during recording caused it to be delayed until now.

You were an awesome guest! Thank you for educating us on these incredibly badass bugs! Absolutely fascinating. ❤️🧟‍♀️

The name is deceptive because only the males have wings and they only have hours to use them to turn wasps into zombies! These rare insects have a strange life history as parasitoids. Keep an eye out around goldenrod flowers and you might see an infected wasp! If you do tag #TeamWasp on your socials

Thank you, Floria!! We absolutely loved having you on as a guest and can't wait to publish the episode in the next two weeks. 🪰❤️

Very cool! These guys are nocturnal and difficult to find (they are wandering ground spiders). Most often folks find their eggsacs (the fairy lamps) and not the adult spiders. There are around 50 eggs in that whimsical eggsac. The spdier will eventually cover the lamp with mud to protect the eggs.

While most are beneficial, there is a deadly exception! Tangents include Naruto ninjas, Elizabeth Wheatley, and Detective Comics Comics' character Ambush Bug.

Photos by our buddy Kevin Wiener

Just kidding! This beetle makes an incredible escape after being consumed by a frog. Video here: youtu.be/_W0UJD_i3Mo

If I do I will definitely PM you!

Kelly here - omg thank you! I could not believe Derek and Amanda sent me a sword! I absolutely love it and the wonderful thought behind it. Finland sounds awesome, I'd love to visit some day.