Can I Bug You?

Co-hosts Jules Bernstein and Doug Yanega talk about what bugs people that study bugs: using common names for insects that create confusion.

Venerable UC Riverside arachnologist Rick Vetter joins the podcast to discuss the two most toxic spiders in North America: the black widow and the brown recluse. Have a back scratcher nearby - this discussion is going to get itchy!

For Valentine's Day we bring you a special episode of the podcast, a deep dive into the strange sex lives of bed bugs. Turns out the scourge of hotels everywhere are both stranger and less dangerous than you may have believed.

Palm weevils have quietly been destroying all the palm trees in the San Diego area. How long until they've taken the rest of the trees in Southern California? What's at stake if we don't control them now? UCR biological control expert Mark Hoddle joins us to shed light on the answers.