“The queen especially was not like, like totally not like mad mad, but like mad at him…”

That analysis is from Charleigh (age 6 ), who I talked to along with her dad Jesse (older than 6) about the 1998 classic A Bug’s Life! We discussed serious matters such as the number of legs ants have, if insects have blood, and if the movie missed an opportunity by not including a dung beetle (I think they did).

Charleigh and Jesse co-host the amazing podcast arthropod adventures, which teaches listeners about arthropods they might see in their backyard. Stay inquisitive and never stop learning with me as I talk to them in this very silly bonus episode!

Our ratings:

Scientific accuracy 🐜 🐜 🐜

Enjoyability 🐜 🐜 🐜 🐜

Bonus episodes are typically reviews of creature-feature horror movies by me and a scientist with expertise relevant to the film. If you enjoyed this episode, you can listen to more of them for free on Patreon.com/newspeciespod

Check out arthropod adventures wherever you get your podcasts

Follow them on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61563432847704

And instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arthropod_adventures_podcast/

Check out their merch: https://www.redbubble.com/people/jhurlburt33/shop?asc=u

Learn more about the Trevor Project: https://www.thetrevorproject.org/

One-time podcast support: buymeacoffee.com/newspeciespod

Be sure to follow New Species on Bluesky (@newspeciespodcast.bsky.social) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and “like” the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast).

If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com

Hi everyone, incredibly it's time for the third biennial New Species Census! Every two years I ask listeners to answer a few questions about who they are, how they listen, and what they would like from the podcast in the future.

Take the survey: https://forms.gle/V8G9VSKxfvaxhxdx5

The survey will be open until February 13th 2026, after which time I'll post a summary of the feedback on instagram.* Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts! I'm so grateful to everyone who listens to this little hobby podcast, and your feedback really helps it to grow.

If you have general feedback or have missed the window, you can always email me at newspeciespodcast@gmail.com. Thank you as always for listening!

*Please note there are a few people confused - the New Species Podcast instagram is @newspeciespodcast! There is another account called New Species which is not me.

Do you ever wonder if your pet could be a new species? Paleontologist Benedikt Kästle took a closer look at his, and it led to a brand new genus and species! Also known as woodlice, these popular pets are easy to keep and easier to enjoy for the way they skitter and roll up. Benedikt explains that his scientific background can help members of the isopod community connect the valuable experience they have from rearing isopods to the broader research community, where much about isopods is still unknown.

Benedikt does this both through his instagram account and in his conversations with hobbyists from around the world, and it makes an impact. This new species is one of many that went undescribed for many years. Now its name is known from Martinique to Germany and beyond. Listen to this episode for a story that celebrates the humble roly poly in all its diversity and mystery.

Benedikt Kästle’s paper “Description of a new genus and species of terrestrial isopod (Oniscidea, Armadillidae) endemic to Martinique” is in volume 47 issue 29 of Zoosystema.

It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.5252/zoosystema-2025v47a29

A transcript of this episode can be found here: Benedikt Kästle - Transcript

New Species: Caribodillo martinicensis

Follow Benedikt on instagram: @sumerian.demon

Episode image credit: Benedikt Kästle

Be sure to follow New Species on Bluesky (@newspeciespodcast.bsky.social) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and “like” the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast).

Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)

If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com

If you would like to support this podcast and enjoy bonus episodes, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

Stoneflies, or Plecoptera, are an order of insects with around 4,000 species. But that’s about to change. In her paper “Stonefly systematics: past, present, and future,” Anna Eichert and her colleagues from around the world map out the way stoneflies have changed as a group over time, some of the factors that shape our current understanding of the stoneflies, and what can change in the future to make sure our knowledge of stonefly diversity continues to grow. Learn from Anna’s account of her experiences and her passion for stoneflies in this episode, and next time you encounter a stream, flip over a rock or two.

Anna Eichert’s paper “Stonefly systematics: past, present, and future” is in volume 9, issue 4 of Insect Systematics and Diversity.

It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1093/isd/ixaf026

A transcript of this episode can be found here: Anna Eichert - Transcript

Episode image credit: Anna Eichert

Email Anna: aeichert@amnh.org

Follow Anna on Instagram: @annaeichert, @bugtimez

And Bluesky: @annaeichert.bsky.social‬

Be sure to follow New Species on Bluesky (@newspeciespodcast.bsky.social) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast).

Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)

If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com

If you would like to support this podcast and enjoy bonus episodes, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

The genus Adelopsis is one of the many groups of LBB’s, ‘little brown beetles’ that often get left behind or unidentified by researchers. Eduardo Gomyde is a scientist giving them a closer look. “We're not just identifying species,” he explains, “but we are also analyzing and understanding the finer scale of the [features] that help us to differentiate them.”

Using Scanning Electron Microscopy, Eduardo and his coauthor carefully examined the tiniest of details. To find these specimens they had to sort through countless vials of “bycatch”, material leftover from other research that gets deposited in museum collections. Listen in as Eduardo describes his work, and learn about the great joy he takes in giving the LBB’s the attention and care they deserve.

Eduardo Gomyde’s paper “Revisiting the concept of ‘ultra evolved’ aedeagi of Adelopsis Portevin, 1907 (Coleoptera: Leiodidae: Cholevinae: Ptomaphagini) using scanning electron

microscopy, with description and redescription of species” is in volume 17 issue 1 of Megataxa.

It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.11646/megataxa.17.1.3

A transcript of this episode can be found here: Eduardo Gomyde - Transcript

New Species: Adelopsis boraceia, Adelopsis monticola, Adelopsis vanini, Adelopsis gibber, Adelopsis ilhabela, Adelopsis caeteh, Adelopsis gandarela, Adelopsis sacerdotis

Episode image credit: Eduardo Gomyde

Listen to Eduardo and I discuss the movie Mosquito Man on a free bonus episode: https://www.patreon.com/posts/mosquito-man-144374393

Be sure to follow New Species on Bluesky (@newspeciespodcast.bsky.social) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast).

Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)

If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com

If you would like to support this podcast and enjoy bonus episodes, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

How much do you know about lichens? These incredible taxa are understudied, but today’s guest is making sure they’re not undervalued. “You can’t look at lichens under a microscope and not become immediately obsessed,” says Dr. Erin Manzitto-Tripp. “It’s an endless world of magnificent, beautiful biodiversity.”

Erin works in the mountains of Colorado to describe new species of lichens along with the rest of her fantastic lab. For this paper they called not just on the power of nature, but also on the power of music. These three new species are named after the Indigo Girls, the individual members of the band and the band itself, in thanks for the many gifts Erin and others have received through their music.

Erin Manzitto-Tripp’s paper “The Thin Horizon of a Plan is Almost Clear: Towards a Lichen Biodiversity Inventory of the Southern Rocky Mountains, USA” is in volume 712 issue 3 of Phytotaxa.

It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.712.3.1

A transcript of this episode can be found here: Erin Manzitto-Tripp - Transcript

New Species: Lecanora indigoana, Lepraria saliersiae, Pertusaria rayana

Episode image credit: Erin Manzitto-Tripp

Listen to “The Wood Song,” whose lyrics gave this paper its title: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0tUkepNqiA

Learn about the Lichens of Great Smoky Mountains National Park: https://www.jstor.org/stable/43188704

Check out Erin’s Lab and their work: https://tripp-report.com/

An article about these new species, with some beautiful photos: https://www.cpr.org/2025/07/24/cu-new-lichen-species-named-after-indigo-girls/

And the blog post from the Indigo Girls after hearing about their new species:

https://www.indigogirls.com/blog/bnjasxuusxhyfhyynob5oiko8om81a

Be sure to follow New Species on Bluesky (@newspeciespodcast.bsky.social) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and “like” the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast).

Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)

If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com

If you would like to support this podcast and enjoy bonus episodes, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

The Cretaceous insects in the family Umenocoleidae have been difficult to classify, but for Soo Bin Lee they are a window into one of the most interesting periods of our prehistoric world. While closely related to the modern cockroaches in order Blattodea, fossil Umenocoleids have been found and researched across the world and found to be present across a larger portion of geologic time than expected. They’re linked to the Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution, an important period of change when angiosperms, or flowering plants, exploded in diversity and prevalence and changed the development of insects as a result.

By examining the tiny and delicate wing venation of fossils, Lee and his coauthors were able to uncover and untangle a new chapter in our knowledge of prehistory. Listen in as Lee draws us into the world of prehistoric creatures, environmental change, and the beauty and complexity of wings.

Soo Bin Lee’s paper “A new Albian genus and species and two other new species of Umenocoleidae (Dictyoptera) from South Korea” is in volume 166 of Cretaceous Research

It can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2024.106013

A transcript of this episode can be found here: Soo Bin Lee - Transcript

New Species: Umenocoleus minimus, Pseudoblattapterix weoni, Petropterix koreaensis

Be sure to follow New Species on Bluesky (@newspeciespodcast.bsky.social) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast).

Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)

If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com

If you would like to support this podcast and enjoy bonus episodes, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod

Do you have a love of holometabolic insects? Ivonne Garzón is the president of their fan club! She studies a subset of geometrid moths that may look drab, but their colorful caterpillars and relationships with toxic plants make them endlessly interesting. “There is no way to get bored,” Ivonne says, “There is no way! You are amazed all the time.”

The story of these moths also includes community; a visit to a caterpillar lab, a collaboration with the local herbarium, and a poll where over 5,000 people chose the name for one of her new species. For Ivonne, taxonomy makes her life joyful and interesting. Make your life more joyful and interesting by listening to Ivonne’s interview as she shares her wealth of knowledge and curiosity with all of us.

Ivonne Garzón’s paper “A new cryptic Phyllodonta Warren (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) from Mexico City with documentation of its life history” is in volume 5666 of Zootaxa.

It can be found here: www.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5666.1.8

A transcript of this episode can be found here: Ivonne Garzón - Transcript

New Species: Phyllodonta coztomatlivora

Episode image credit: Ivonne Garzón

Check out Ivonne’s lab instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/leps.de.mx/

Listen to Rosemary Gillespie’s episode on New Species: https://www.newspeciespodcast.net/release-happy-face-spiders-with-rosemary-gillespie

Be sure to follow New Species on Bluesky (@newspeciespodcast.bsky.social) and Instagram (@NewSpeciesPodcast) and like the podcast page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast).

Music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom)

If you have questions or feedback about this podcast, please e-mail us at NewSpeciesPodcast@gmail.com

If you would like to support this podcast and enjoy bonus episodes, please consider doing so at https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPod