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S3E5: Order UP!

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S3:E5 Order UP! In Episode V of this season of The Entangled Bank, Spencer, Dane, Colby, and Joey dive into a discussion of the fascinating insect order Hymenoptera. This is order is comprised of over 150,000 species of bees, wasps, sawflies, and ants. Hymenoptera came into being about 252 million years ago during the Triassic period. The different insects in this order share similar characteristics such as two pairs of thin, see-through wings, chewing mouthparts, and compound eyes. In this podcast we focused on the different suborders within Hymenoptera to detail some of their unique attributes.  (https://projects.ncsu.edu/cals/course/ent425/library/compendium/hymenoptera.html) Spencer kicked off our discussion with bees. Bees have very interesting aging and development patterns. For example, male bees only live on average for 4-8 weeks while queen bees can live for multiple years! Bees are also some of the most common social insects and have a highly developed form of ch...
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S3E4: Octopuses

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  S3E4: Octopuses! In today’s episode, The Captivating Creatures of the Deep , octopuses were the main topic of discussion. The octopus has a vast behavior repertoire and various unique characteristics that make them important for research and scientists to study. We wanted to dive into specific aspects of the octopus, including an introduction on the phylogeny of octopuses and a basic overview of how their camouflage works and how these cephalopods reproduce.  Emilie highlighted the scientific classification of the octopus and what general characteristics they have. Octopuses and their relatives, cuttlefish, and squids, form the class of modern cephalopods. These are known as soft-bodied molluscan invertebrates. For starters, their soft bodies allow them to squeeze through tiny holes and fit in any space. They use their eight arms that are equipped with rows of suckers that are used for probing the environment, catching prey, and much more. Their mantl...
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