© 2025 Ideastream Public Media

1375 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115
(216) 916-6100 | (877) 399-3307

WKSU is a public media service licensed to Kent State University and operated by Ideastream Public Media.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Dragonflies Are Masters of Flight That Start Life Underwater

Season 1 Episode 3 | 7m 04s

Dragonfly expert Jessica Ware is on a mission to understand the evolutionary history of dragonflies. Deep in the rainforest of Guyuna, Ware collects dragonflies and damselflies to bring back to her lab. Dragonflies and damselfies are well known for their dazzling beauty and constant presence around freshwater sources, but their early life stage as vicious underwater predators hidden from sight.

Extras
Ummat Somjee goes to Thailand to observe the cultural tradition of fighting beetles.
On the plains of South Africa, an army of dung beetles recycle the dung of large mammals.
Gavin Svenson heads to the Brazilian rainforest to sample the diversity of mantises.
Monarch butterflies winter in the fir forests of Michoacan, Mexico, after an epic migration.
Jesse Barber and Akito Kawahara study the evolutionary arms race between bats and moths.
A four-part investigation into insect declines, exploring their diversity and ecological importance.
Urban Ecologist Sylvana Ross visits Baltimore, Maryland, to find Tapinoma Sessile.
Evolutionary Biologist Ummat Somjee describes his research on Flag-footed bugs in Panamá.
Beetles are the world’s most abundant animals, called “the most important species on the planet.”
Praying mantises and aquatic insects reveal cunning physical adaptations for ruthless survival.
Pollinators – bees, moths and butterflies – bring color to the world and put food on our plates.
Could a world without insects survive? Scientists investigate the global insect “apocalypse.”