The Six-Legged Narrative

The Six-Legged Narrative EPS 2026-07-03

Do spiders dream? This episode says maybe. From a beachcomber's discovery that reshaped whale science to a wasp with a very particular target, and a butterfly quest that turned a total beginner into a bestselling author, it's a tour through some of the smallest, strangest science happening right now. Plus, a personal story about hand-rearing one of the coast's most threatened butterflies. Tune in to The Six-Legged Narrative.

The Six-Legged Narrative EPS 2026-07-02

A newly discovered beetle hiding in plain sight, the truth behind a butterfly's post-chrysalis mystery fluid, the insects working the night shift in farm fields, a bacterial partnership aphids can't live without, an ant that cloned a completely different species, and the household predator you should never kill on sight. Six stories, one host, and a whole lot of legs.

The Six-Legged Narrative EPS 2026-07-01

Britain's only native cicada may be making a comeback in the New Forest. The USDA is preparing to release 180 million sterile flies against a flesh-eating parasite detected in Texas. A new speed database crowns the world's fastest spider. A citizen scientist in Ireland documents a harvestman species never recorded in the country before. Researchers in Turkey describe a tarantula new to science — one that may have arrived via ancient trade routes thousands of years ago. And four people tried to smuggle 21 live Dungeness crabs out in modified clothing. This is the Six-Legged Narrative.

The Six-Legged Narrative EPS 2026-06-30

What if everything scientists thought they knew about the number of species on Earth was only a fraction of the truth? Today on the Six-Legged Narrative, a landmark study reshapes how we count life on this planet, American snout butterflies are swarming the Texas coast in jaw-dropping numbers, caterpillars are closing city parks in Germany, and we find out why the US military throws the best arthropod party in the country. Plus — your lawn mowing habits have consequences, and there is now a calculator to prove it.

The Six-Legged Narrative EPS 2026-06-29

A writhing mass of harvestmen reveals one of evolution's most creative survival strategies. Cockroaches get a specialized new upgrade that takes them somewhere you would not expect. New research explains the itch-scratch cycle — and why knowing the science does not necessarily make it easier to stop. A community of 400 donors secures critical habitat for one of North America's most endangered butterflies. A lost ant species takes its first steps back home in the English countryside. And an illegal scorpion and tarantula collection in Poland gives us a reason to talk about what responsible exotic invertebrate keeping actually looks like.