Episode 233 - Flies and Mosquitoes

The Common Descent Podcast

Common Descent

Science, Natural Sciences, Education, Earth Sciences, Science:natural Sciences

4.8 • 764 Ratings

🗓️ 21 December 2025

⏱️ 162 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Of all the highly successful and capable flying insects in the world, few are as successful or capable as those in the order Diptera. This episode, we’re joined by special guest Brandon Strauss to discuss the distinctive anatomy and varied habits of flies, mosquitoes, and their many two-winged relatives. Then, we’ll peer into the past for a glimpse at the fossil record and dynamic evolutionary history of the group. In the news: long-nosed crocs, river mosasaurs, stampeding sea turtles, and giant snakes Find Brandon at punk_entomology on Instagram, Bluesky, and Twitch! Time markers:Intro & Announcements: 00:00:00News: 00:05:35Main discussion, Part 1: 00:38:30Main discussion, Part 2: 01:38:35Patron question: 02:25:55 Check out our website for this episode’s blog post and more: http://commondescentpodcast.com/ Join us on Patreon to support the podcast and enjoy bonus content: https://www.patreon.com/commondescentpodcast Got a topic you want to hear about? Submit your episode request here: https://commondescentpodcast.com/request-a-topic/ Lots more ways to connect with us: https://linktr.ee/common_descent The Intro and Outro music is “On the Origin of Species” by Protodome. More music like this at http://ocremix.org Musical Interludes are "Professor Umlaut" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to the Common Descent Podcast.
0:19.0	Hello, Will. Hello, David.
0:21.8	Hello, listeners, and welcome to Common Descent Podcast.
0:24.9	This is episode 233, the last episode of 2025.
0:30.8	We're rounding out the year with an episode about flies and mosquitoes.
0:38.3	That's right. This episode is about diptera, the group of insects called diptera, which flies,
0:43.3	mosquitoes, midges, all those little buzzy guys. We will be joined for this discussion by a friend
0:49.3	of ours, Brandon Strauss, who is a forensic entomologist, who, after the announcements in the news and all that,
0:56.4	will join us to tell us about the diversity of this group, the defining features of this group,
1:00.9	and what we know about the evolutionary history of these famous bugs.
1:06.4	I just realized that I should have put just every now and then a little buzzing audio in the background of the discussion.
1:14.3	Just hear it just to really put it on theme.
1:17.6	I disagree.
1:19.5	I would hate that.
1:21.1	Just get like a clip of the noise of a mosquito right by your ear.
1:25.5	And just every now and then.
1:27.2	Exactly. Yeah, that's what I'm saying.
1:28.5	Like, so for everyone with earbuds, you just have that immersive experience. Luckily for you all,
1:33.4	I didn't do that. But, you know, I could have. So keep that in mind. Give thanks. Give thanks to Will.
1:43.8	This episode, we're very excited. this is a topic we're both very
1:47.5	excited about we're excited to have brandon join us and this topic was requested as all of our
1:53.5	episodes are this particular subject was requested by teadora lydia lorina serpentine iocce alexus hose eva joe louis josiah by Teodora, Lydia, Lorena, Serpentine, IOC Electus, Jose, Ava, Joe, Lewis, Josiah, Gemfire, Noah, and Michael.
	...

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