podcast - The Insect Insights

the Insect Insights

Chill insect stories to relax, and wonder

The Insect Insights is a short-form scientific podcast. Its aim is to tell short and simple stories about arthropods, mostly terrestrial, mostly insects, to make them a bit more familiar to you. The stories are always told using the second person, so you can feel like you are actually living them. Hop on for a meditative journey into entomology!

You can find it on most podcast platforms, and here is the RSS feed link.

Some more info

I edit the podcast using Ardour, a free/libre DAW software. I build the acoustic atmospheres using free use samples from https://www.musicscreen.be/, recordings from INaturalist users, and personal recordings. The INaturalist credits can be found on the episode pages, and you can find some of the soundscapes I built here. My voice is recorded at Agentur Sisigrant.

If you want to support the podcast, you can make donations on my ko-fi page! For insect questions, or general questions about the podcast, drop me an email at mail[at]maxaubrydotcom.

The episodes

You can also find all the episodes' scripts and sources below:

The silverfish, a picky eater

The story of a diet choice.

Solenopsis, a little thief

The story of a band of minute thieves.

The leafminer, a minute moth

The story of a hacker in a leaf.

Colobopsis, an explosive ant

The story of an unexpected encounter.

Volucella, a fly living among wasps

The story of a guest in a wasp nest.

Erigone, a miniature flying spider

The story of an aerial journey.

Acropyga & pet, a matriarch duo

The story of a partnership between ant and mealy bug.

Myrmeleon, a hidden foe

The story of a battle in the sand.

Tyrannomyrmex, a captive ant

The story of an ant in an unusual setting.

The angel insect, and its exceptional wings

The story of a delicious mating.

Ant larva, an immobile worker

The story of a industrious little baby.

Podagrion, a passe-muraille wasp

The story of wasp breaking in a fortress.

The Rusty Tussock moth, a task splitter

The story of a caterpillar at a morphological crossroad.

Rhynocoris, an assassin with a multitool

The story of a bug with a versatile venom.

Extatosoma, an early runner

The story of a young spiny leaf insect on an escape trajectory.

Teleopsis, a fly with the eyes of a stalker

The story of a fly with several millimeter between its eyes.

Staphylinidae, a family of crafty beetles

The story of a beetle with its wings neatly packed.

Meloe, an explorer of possiblities

The story of a larva trying new things.

Winter special! The snow dwellers

The story of insects who defy the cold.

The vulture bee, a carrion enjoyer and her iron belly

The story of a bee who went through a major diet switch.

Eristalis tenax, a crafty maggot

The story of a larva breathing through its elongated butt.

Xenos vesparum, a twisted parasite

The story of a clever parasite in a wasp butt.

Nicrophorus, a beetle hiding its treasure

The story of a beetle and its microbial friends.

Austrospirachtha, a double-agent

The story of a sneaky beetle with a special rear end.

Pisaura, a generous spider

The story of a male spider preparing his mating.

Scarabaeus, a navigator in the night

The story of a beetle with an eye for the night sky.

Ammophila, a caring mother

The story of a solitary wasp looking for a prey.

Antarctophthirus, a travelling louse

The story of a louse starting its journey on the back of a sea lion.

Myrmica microrubra, a royal cheater

The story of a queen ant, slightly different from the other queens.

Sphecodes albilabris, a bee stealing from other bees

The story of a cuckoo bee looking for a host nest.

Cupido minimus, a territorial butterfly

The story of a female butterfly laying her eggs.

Tetragnatha, a spider ready to bite for love

The story of a male spider looking for a mate.