Many of us may think of caterpillars as the subject of children’s books or animated movies, but they can cause trouble, especially in large numbers. This year at least one couple in Maine has seen spongy moth caterpillars ruin their trees and nearly take over their lives.
Their story got our attention at Something Offbeat, the podcast where we dive into unusual news stories. It made us wonder how climate change, and might impact the way human and insect worlds interact.
“We’re seeing, you know, shifting of species being found where they typically weren’t before,” said Angela Mech, an assistant professor of forest entomology at the University of Maine, who joined host Mike Rogers for out latest episode.
“I think we're all aware, maybe a night that that you hear insect sounds, said Erika Hasle, a conservation ecologist with the Keller Science Action Center at The Field Museum in Chicago who also joined the show. “But that that that Symphony has changed, and is ever changing, it changes throughout the season, maybe in ways that we don't consciously know.”
Listen to take a peek into what the future holds for some of Earth’s oldest creatures – and figure out what that means for us.
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