Insect Minute

WKNC 88.1 | NC State Student Radio•insectminute.transistor.fm

Insect Minute was a collaboration between the NC State Insect Museum and WKNC 88.1 FM to highlight interesting aspects of the world of entomology.

Last refreshed: August 24th, 2025 at 8:25 AM ⓘ

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Episodes

Social Insects

Our resident entomology expert Heather Campbell brings us another Insect Minute. This week’s topic: social insects.

Dec 04, 2012•1 min•Ep. 11

Bioluminescence

Our resident entomology expert Heather Campbell brings us another Insect Minute. This week’s topic: bioluminescence.

Nov 05, 2012•1 min•Ep. 10

Medical Insects

Our resident entomology expert Heather Campbell brings us another Insect Minute. This week’s topic: medical insects.

Oct 15, 2012•1 min•Ep. 9

Termites

Our resident entomology expert Heather Campbell brings us another Insect Minute. This week’s topic: termites.

Sep 25, 2012•1 min•Ep. 8

Cockroaches

Our resident entomology expert Heather Campbell brings us another Insect Minute. This week’s topic: cockroaches.

Sep 17, 2012•1 min•Ep. 7

If you would like to find out more about bed bugs visit the museum’s website at insectmuseum.org where you also find information about our museum and read our blog where we talk about interesting stuff going on in the world of entomology.

Aug 10, 2012•1 min•Ep. 6

Ticks

Tick Life Cycle from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Ticks find their hosts through detecting the breath, body odor or body heat of an animal or through questing. When a tick is questing for a host it will climb to the end of a leaf or tip of a blade of grass and hold on tightly with the last two sets of legs and stretch the fore legs out, holding this position until an animal comes by to climb on to. Once the tick is “aboard” it will begin looking for a place of attachment, preferabl...

Aug 06, 2012•1 min•Ep. 5

Cicadas

Cicadas are found on every continent, with the exception of Antarctica. In fact, there are 2,600 described species in the world ranging from very large (110 mm) to relatively small (14 mm), most of which are members of the family Cicadidae. The other family of cicadas, Tettigarctidae , is a very small and relictual group that is represented by two species present only in Australia. These Australian cicadas are known as the hairy cicadas and communicate by transmitting vibrations through vegetati...

Jul 27, 2012•1 min•Ep. 4

The Biggest Insect

Aggggghhhh!! That is one big insect!! To answer this question we need clarification, how do you quantify “biggest”? Insects are very diverse and they come in many shapes which means that the longest is not the heaviest. So to answer the question of what is the “biggest” completely there are two answers. The longest insect is the Chan’s Mega Stick from Borneo. Phobaeticus chani is a member of the stick-insect order Phasmatodea . Our native species, Diapheromera femorata , is 3 to 4 inches long. P...

Jul 18, 2012•1 min•Ep. 3

The Arctic Woolly Bear Moth

Banded woolly bear - Photo by graftendno1 Never the less, there is a woolly bear caterpillar that does have a very interesting relationship with winter. It is called the Arctic woolly bear caterpillar. Although their names are similar and they superficially look alike, these two are very different. The banded woolly bear caterpillar is in the family Arctiidae and is common in all of North America. The arctic woolly bear is member of the family, Lymantriidae, and is found in the Arctic Circle. Th...

Jul 13, 2012•1 min•Ep. 2

The Wonderful World of Bees!

Bees are in the order Hymenoptera which also includes wasps, ants and sawflies. Bees and wasps are commonly confused with one another or perceived as names that are interchangeable. Bees and wasps share some attributes; like a similar body plan and they are both holometabolous insects. ( A much cuter explanation of metamorphosis ) There is one very big thing that sets them apart, their diets! Bees are strictly vegan, preferring to forage on pollen and nectar, whereas most wasps mix other arthrop...

Jun 21, 2012•1 min•Ep. 1

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