IAm the Bug Whisperer. AMA!

Yesterday a saw a bee drowning in a little pool, so I got a leaf and let him crawl on it and let him out. While I was waiting for him to dry and fly off (which he thankfully did), I saw a wasp end up in the pool also, but didn't save him. Does this make me a bad person?

It doesn’t. Some wasps can be really defensive and give a nasty sting, so I’d understand if you didn’t want to interact with one!

Why do spiders sit in my bathroom for days on end, not moving at all?

Many spiders are sit-and-wait predators, they prefer to remain still and wait for an insect to get caught in their web. This conserves energy and fools alot of insects into thinking there isn’t a predator nearby!

Hi Aaron, Do you think a bug can have a personality? Thanks for doing the AMA :)

Thank you! Yes I do believe insects can have personalities. My madagascar hissing cockroaches, for example, have personalities- some are more irritable than others, while some are quite shy and docile. Insects have consciousness, so it isn’t surprising that they differ from one another mentally.

Has there ever been a bug you’ve come across that was too creepy to handle?

Surprisingly, there hasn’t been!

I recently read that mosquitoes prefer people with type O blood, and as an O-, I find this to be very true. Hanging out with me is better than bug repellent.

My question is, do mosquitoes really have a preference, and of so, why?

Mosquitoes do prefer type O blood, although I’m not quite sure why! It could be that type O lacks certain proteins that would be harder or unnecessary to digest! This lack of certain proteins is why type O blood can be accepted by everyone.

Which insect do you think deserves more appreciation than it gets?

I think fruit flies are massively underrated- a lot of people don’t realize how important they have been in teaching humans about basic biology, including mutations, protein interactions and circadian rhythms. They also make great food for small insect pets!

What is the most dangerous insect you handled?

A european honeybee! Most of the insects I handle are scary-looking yet harmless :)

Hello Aaron, first of all, thank you for doing this ☺️

As for my question: What's the most unusual thing that you've witnessed while working with insects?

Thank you! The most unusual thing I’ve seen is firefly courtship on a large scale. It’s amazing how beautiful those flashes look when you have thousands of fireflies in a field. It almost looked like a view of a major city, with lights

What’s the most interesting insect you’ve had the opportunity to see ? By the way I love following you on Facebook, lots of informative and great posts from you!

-Michael

I also have another question, what advice would you have for someone currently living with bed bugs ? And does their history interest you at all ? (I heard they were almost entirely wiped out in the 1800s but have since came back more resilient than ever!)

Thank you! The most interesting insect would have to be the jungle nymph, a giant, green stick insect that has prickly legs. It looks so alien! For bedbugs, I’d say eliminate furniture and put whatever you can in a freezer for a couple of days to destroy bedbugs and their eggs. Fumigation is a decent action to help eliminate any bedbugs in the house, along with other insecticide treatment methods. Their history doesn’t interest me very much, I prefer insects that don’t suck!

Hi! I've never had an insect pet and always wanted to own a roach. Last year I decided to educate myself and get one but still need to learn more. What species do you recommend for a beginner? I was thinking of the Madagascar hissing cockroach, should I get only one in my first time, or a couple? Thank you!

Thank you! The Madagascar hissing cockroach is a great first choice for a pet- I’d say get a couple, they enjoy each other’s company!

And what is your best bug related joke?

How many moths does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Two.

My dog is named Bug, so my question is: which bugs are most like dogs?

I’d say madagascar hissing cockroaches- research suggests that they can tell their owner apart from other people.

That’s crazy!! Are regular house cockroaches as intelligent, or should I go on smashing them as usual?

Actually, follow up to my follow up: what the heck is the point of a cockroach?

Regular house cockroaches are not as intelligent, but they do serve as prey for a number of animals and help to break down organic matter in the environment. Nature’s recyclers!

Dealing with animals, do you have any experience where animal or insect you work with attacked you?

I’ve had an experience where my chaco golden knee tarantula bit me. It taught me that I need to be more wary of sick animals and give them their space, instead of trying to interact with them. My tarantula was very old, and he bit my hand to try to balance himself more while I was holding him. The encounter could have been avoided if I was more diligent!

What’s your opinion of house centipedes and can you give me a reason to be happy that they’re all over my walls?

I love them, they eat insect pests!

What’s your stance on the debate of humans wiping out mosquitoes?

As annoying as they are, I think we should make more of an effort to prevent the transmission of mosquito diseases rather than eradicating them as a whole. Mosquitoes serve as food for a number of predators, and they also pollinate and control the populations of animals that they feed on. They’re crucial for a number of ecosystems and elnating them can disrupt several natural ecosystems.

What's your favorite potato based dish?

I love the potato knish!

I am developing a bed bug detector. The scientists say that BB give off the most pheromone after feeding and mating. They also give off the panic/alarm pheromone when trapped or stuck. Is there anyway to tell the difference between a happy mating pheromone release and a panic release?

Male bedbugs attempt courtship with each other in the presence of alarm pheromone, interestingly enough!

Hi Aaron, what is your favorite unsolved entomological mystery? ...either a phenomenon or specific event that you would love to see answered/resolved?

Great question! I’d like to know what a bug’s vision looks like. What do they see? How different is their vision from ours? Scientists have done a great job of deducing the types of light insects can see and the level of detail with which they can visualize surfaces, but we still don’t have a definitive idea of how an insect views the world!

What's the most surprising thing you've learned doing your shows, and what's the best question someone has asked?

I didn’t realize how many people had tattoos of invertebrates! I meet someone at almost every show that has a tattoo of a moth, spider or scorpion. I think it’s amazing that people would have enough appreciation for an animal to wear its image on their skin permanently. The best question anyone’s ever asked is if the genes that allow insects to be so resilient can be applied to humans. The idea of humans undergoing insect gene therapy just seems so very cool!

Few questions.

High oxygen environments, have you witnessed anything like the university of Arizona experiments where they caused insects to grow larger or have any interesting tidbits on this?

Activating old genes in chickens - it caused them to regrow dinosaur parts. Any kind of research into this area with insects?

Grasshoppers have been known to switch on their locust behavior when scientists pet them because it simulates lots of them around each other. (due to dopamine release I believe). Any other insects you know of that exhibit behavioral changes with similar type actions?

Last question. In a sterile environment, if you inject a big old fat caterpillar with more grow nutrients or grow juice do you think a bigger butterfly/moth will come out?

Activating old genes in chickens - it caused them to regrow dinosaur parts. Any kind of research into this area with insects? I have not! I don’t know of anyone working with regrowing parts from ancient insects.
Grasshoppers have been known to switch on their locust behavior when scientists pet them because it simulates lots of them around each other. (due to dopamine release I believe). Any other insects you know of that exhibit behavioral changes with similar type actions? So far, grasshoppers are the only insects I know of that exhibit this behavior. There are some parallels with Japanese beetles, but that is due to the Japanese bettle’s release of aggregation pheromone, which will attract a large amount of beetles to the site for eating and mating.
Last question. In a sterile environment, if you inject a big old fat caterpillar with more grow nutrients or grow juice do you think a bigger butterfly/moth will come out? Yes- specifically, if you inject it with juvenile hormone that allows it to molt once more, rather than pupate. The resulting moth will be a bit larger than one that wasn’t given juvenile hormone. There is a limit to this, however, and it’s unlikely we’ll get giant insects using this method!

There's a huge difference between East Asian Studies and Entomology. Firstly, how/why did you go about making a subject change like that, and secondly what was it like becoming a PhD candidate?

The difference is smaller than you’d think! I chose East Asian studies because I was fascinated by the way insects are revered in different Japanese cultures. I always knew I wanted to study insects, but in college I thought I would learn more about them by experiencing cultures that embraced them more than my own culture does. I still did zoological research and took science courses as part of a premed program during college, so I was able to get a better understanding of animals on both a cultural level and a scientific level. Becoming a PhD was amazing because it taught me that you can achieve a goal or get to a place using unconventional means. Like, for example, being a premed East asian studies major who eventually goes on to study bugs for a living :)

What do you think about the trend of eating bugs instead of meat?

I think entomophagy is a great substitute for current traditions and is overall better for the environment, the economy and human health.

Hi Aaron! Thank you for doing this AMA!

What are the effects of climate change on insect populations?

It really depends on the insect. Climate change can lead to increases and decreases in populations of other species, and this can indirectly affect insects. For example, a plant species declining because of climate change could cause a decrease in the amount of insects that rely on the plant as a food source. Climate change could lead to increases in temperature that trigger the proliferation of fungi that prey on insects. Generally speaking insects mature and reproduce faster with increasing temperature, as is the case with mosquitos. However, it is bad for insects and their ecosystems overall, and proper care should be taken to ensure that man-made climate change doesn’t impact our natural habitats.

What is the coolest symbiotic relationship involving insects that you know of?

Ants taking care of aphids is still in my opinion the coolest symbiotic relationship to date!

What, in your opinion, is the best number of legs for a bug to have?

Six!

As a student of biology considering a masters degree within entomology myself, which areas would you say are looking the most promising? Are there certain groups of insects desperately in need of further research?

Urban entomology! Recent discoveries in cockroach genomes and the genomes of other pests have given us insight into how these insects develop insecticidal resistance. German cockroaches need to be studied further these pests produce allergenic proteins that cause asthma, and learning more about the mechanisms behind these proteins would allow for the development of better medication and pesticides.

You mentioned insects having personalities. Does this apply equally to all types of insects, or are some more "gifted" with personality than others? And why are wasps such jerks?

Some are more gifted than others, especially when you consider more intelligent species like wasps! Wasps are defensive because they need to protect their vulnerable young and also secure enough food to provide their young with sufficient protein. It’s a hard life for insects!

Have you seen the movie Bug 1975? I think it was the 2nd showing at the drive-in theater LOL! Basically there's a crack in the Earth's core and these bugs come out and ravage a small town. They can catch things on fire and blowup cars by going through their tailpipes. They look suspiciously like Madagascar hissing cockroaches!

That sounds so interesting! I haven’t seen it yet, but I’ll be sure to check it out!

I am a huge fan of insects and Entomology. I have tried to read everything that May R. Berenbaum has written. I got into her books because my wife has a degree in Biology and had one of her books from one of her bio classes. I read it and couldn't get enough so I went and purchased her other books. Do you have any other suggestions for books that cover a wide range of insect topics or just really interesting Entomological topics?

The Insects: An Outline of Entomology by P.J. Gullan!

What's the best reaction anyone has ever had to your bugs? What was the worst? Why do you think people so often have an automatic ICK reaction to bugs??

The best was when they put my caterpillars on their face. Brave souls they were! The worst was when someone dropped the insects they were holding because they got spooked! I think a combination of human instinct, xenophobia and poor media coverage of insects contributes to the ick reaction.

Is there any evidence that suggests that bees avoid stinging because they know it will kill them?

Not that I know of, no!

Do you yourself have any insect pets? and if so, what?

Yes! Madagascar hissing cockroaches, blue death feigning beetles, eastern lubber grasshoppers, Dubia cockroaches, ants, mealworms, superworms, crickets, chinese praying mantids, and many, many more!

What's the best way to get a spider or other insect out of a house unharmed? The cup/paper trick never seems to work for me.

Critter catchers seem to work well!

Very cool AMA! My question: I have a spider (no idea what kind, I live in PA) that has taken up residence in my favorite deck chair. It's got this huge awesome web across the front... I don't mind having him/her around to eat other bugs, but I'd like my chair back! What's the best way to encourage him to move along without hurting him? Thanks!

Thanks! You could gently remove them with a container or commercial Critter catcher for relocation elsewhere- they’ll build a new web!

Hi Aaron. I have a few species of arachnids that I keep at home as pets. The social behavior of the Emperor scorpion (Pandinus Imperator) particularly intrigues me. I remember one occasion in which an adult female pushed away a juvenile with her tail while she was eating, rather than displaying defensive behavior like I would have assumed she might do. Anyway, my question is: what are the known theories regarding fluorescence in scorpions?

Most scorpions glow blue-green under UV light because proteins in their hyaline layer absorb UV light and re-emit the light at a lower wavelength.

The hyaline layer, which is a section of the cuticle included in a scorpion's exoskeleton, is so durable that even scorpion fossils glow in UV light! It may allow scorpions to recognize each other or discourage predators!

I remember being told that scientists don’t understand how bumblebees fly because they are non-aerodynamic (or something like that). I later had a prof. say that they could fly because of spiricles. Do you know if it has been figured out, if this is a myth, or what?

We’ve finally discovered the physics that goes into bumblebee flight. They produce little drag and the rapid beating of their wing muscles is enough for them to become airborne. What we had before was simply a lack of scientific data on how their wings propel their weight.

your thoughts on ant-man?

Great character! I wish I could work with ants like he does!

The other day I had come across a small wasp nest in the fence and questioned out loud how they all fit in the galvanized pipe... to which they all flew into the pipe.

Another inncodent of this had been sitting on or near an ants nest when a shiny soldier ant with two stripes had crawled on me beating it's back legs to the music we had been playing while others were almost moving digitally fast and jumping off of me and I mean quite literally, jump. That soldier ant also got agressive with my finger when I got too close to it and stood on it's back legs as if to punch me.

What sort of experiences do you have like this?

I’ve had experiences of beehives in wooden posts. They seem to prefer tight spaces and are especially defensive against incoming strangers. I’ve also noticed quite a few soldiers outside of the hives, “keeping watch.”

Hi!

Cockroaches seem to be much faster than any other insect on their feet. What's up with that? Did they evolve to outrun the slipper?

Thanks!

Thanks! Cockroaches have ganglia not only in their head, but also throughout their thorax and abdomen. This is partly why they can live without a head. A cockroach will start running before it realizes it is running or knows what it is running from, and this is because a stimulus can tell the ganglia throughout its body to initiate running- the signal doesn’t have to go all the way to the head.

Please tell me how to tell ants to get out of my house and leave me alone! Can they or do they understand? How can I tell them there is a whole yard they can play in? and that they can just walk in the other direction? I understand they use scents and pheromones to "talk to each other... is there a "scent" I can use that portrays my feelings towards them and direct them properly?

Sealing cracks and crevices in your home as well as eliminating food waste and water really helps! They’ll be more likely to feel attracted to stimuli from the outside. You can also use gel baits.

What is the best book on fly fishing?

The Orvis fly-fishing guide seems promising!

How is the research of peptides from various theraphosidae progressing in terms of finding some sort of new treatment for MD? I haven’t read anything new in it in a while. Last I had heard they were doing research on G. Rosea. Why not something that has more of an observable myotoxin like effect such as a poecilotheria ornata or p. Murinus? Seems like they picked a weak contestant for research.

I haven’t seen much progress in this area either. In my experience, a lot of arbitrary decisions in terms of what species to use have to do with funding, time, availability and knowledge. It may just boil down to what specimens are available, how much they cost, the implications of importing specimens and what species the researchers are familiar with. It isn’t a perfect system for discovering the utility of different species, but that’s oftentimes how scientists operate.

How difficult is beetle keeping? Specifically the bigger ones like Hercules.

I’d say it’s simple once you have the right substrate (soil, wood). It just takes a long time to grow them to adulthood!

I always wanted to be an Entomologist ever since I saw Jack Hodgins (T.J. Thyme) on Bones using insects/bugs of all types forensically to solve murders.

Have you seen Bones? And if so how accurate is it in regards to the use of Forensic Entomology?

Can bugs found at a crime scene show time of death or where the body or a person has been?

I’ve sene bones, and it’s surprisingly accurate in portraying forensic entomology! Bugs found at a crime scene can show the time of death or where the body or a person has been, and this is evident by the type of bug and the developmental stage it is in at the time of the body’s discovery.

Two-part, really. What's your opinion on the movie "Mimic"? Even remotely based on any science? (Not the insect vs insect, but the adaptation part.)

What's your opinion on entomophagy? I support it, but I'm curious how you feel.

I think the film is a beautiful exaggeration of what is already an amazing display of wasp adaptation. That is, certain wasps that feed on spiders are programmed to know where exactly to bite or sting the spider to best immobilize it without killing it. These wasps are an interesting example of animals learning certain behaviors versus animals exhibiting certain behaviors that they’re not altogether conscious of. I think entomophagy is an amazing and innovative concept that will help the economy as well as various ecosystems. Insects require only a fraction of the resources needed for animals like cows and pigs.

As the Bug Whisperer, are there any insects that you dislike, and if so, why?

Bot flies- their larva burrow into human flesh!

Hi Aaron!

Is it true that Mosquito's truly serve no purpose in the Ecosystem and we wouldn't be at a loss if they were to go extinct?

Hi! This isn’t true because mosquitoes pollinate, control certain animal populations through infection and serve as prey for quite a number of insectivores!

Is it true that honeybees aren't native to north America and only came when the Europeans carried them over?

Is it also true that we have no idea how bumblebees fly?

There used to be a native honey bee, as evidence in fossil records, but not anymore. We’ve recently learned the physics behind bumblebee flight!

I have a small 10 foot by 5 foot balcony. What happens if I release 100 baby praying mantises on it during the summer when I have my container garden going?

They’re really good at controlling insect pests! You’d likely see them eating a number of flies, crickets and beetles. You’d have way less adults than babies when they finally mature, and a few of them may mate and produce ootheca.

Any chance that you would consider crossing over to the software bugs world? :|

Sure! I’d love to study whatever I can!

Hi! Few days ago I bought myself new pet - tarantula (caribena versicolor). I didn't come up with the name yet, any ideas? :)

I make up the silliest names- how about Sparkly?!

Did you ever do a show for a school camp in Pennsylvania? I'm 90% sure that you taught my school at camp!

I might have! I’ve only done one show in pennsylvania.

Are you aware of island gigantism, and have you ever interacted with an insect affected by it? If so, did they act differently than normal?

Yes, and I interact regularly with madagascar hissing cockroaches. They’re way less frightened of humans than normal insects are and seem very relaxed.