Metamorphosis: Soldier fly and desert beetle
Discovery
BBC
4.3 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 25 September 2023
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Erica McAlister on the innocuous wasp-like black soldier fly, a crown jewel of a fast-growing insect farming industry that's addressing the urgent need to find cheap clean protein. And how Namib Desert beetles have evolved in a very special environment, where the only source of water exists in the air.
(Image: Desert beetle in Namib desert. Credit: Martin Harvey/Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Ever wondered what the world's wealthiest people did to get so ridiculously rich? |
| 0:05.4 | Our podcast Good Bad Billionaire takes 1 billionaire at a time and explains exactly how they made their money. |
| 0:11.9 | And then we decide if they are actually good, bad or just plain wealthy. |
| 0:15.5 | So if you want to know if Rihanna is as much of a bad guy as she claims, |
| 0:19.2 | or what Jeff Bezos really did to become the first person in history to pocket $100 billion, |
| 0:24.6 | listen to Good Bad Billionaire with me, Simon Jack, |
| 0:27.4 | and me, Zingsing. |
| 0:28.5 | Listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:31.2 | LiveSless Ordinary is the podcast from the BBC World Service, |
| 0:35.3 | bringing you extraordinary personal stories from around the globe. |
| 0:39.4 | Search for LiveSless Ordinary, wherever you get your BBC podcasts. |
| 0:47.1 | This is Discovery from the BBC World Service, |
| 0:49.6 | and I'm exploring two stories each week of how insects have transformed our world. |
| 0:55.9 | I'm sitting in my desk at the Natural History Museum, |
| 0:58.7 | and like every good entomologist, it's absolutely covered with insects. |
| 1:02.2 | It's terrible. |
| 1:03.5 | We're right in the middle of it. |
| 1:05.3 | I have what actually looks like a rock. |
| 1:07.3 | This is in fact thousands of flies squashed together in this patty. |
| 1:12.5 | This is a kunga cake made from small gnats, |
| 1:15.7 | which are carrying immense swarms as certain seasons in Lake Victoria and Lake Malawi. |
| 1:20.9 | And they're kind of like scooped up, |
... |
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