Gabriela Quirós

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Want a Cozy, Free Home? Ask This Caterpillar How

Jan 7, 2025 | kqed.org | Gabriela Quirós

Jan 7Failed to save articlePlease try againAs a caterpillar, a grass skipper butterfly is an architect. It builds its home by weaving skeins of silk, which the caterpillar uses to fold shut a blade of grass. After growing up inside this “grass taco,” it emerges as a fuzzy butterfly that woos a mate with flirty courtship dances. TRANSCRIPTWith each sway of its head, this caterpillar lays a strand of silk. It’s weaving to survive.
This Mite-y Beetle Buries the Dead to Start a Family

Sep 24, 2024 | kqed.org | Gabriela Quirós

Sep 24Failed to save articlePlease try againInsects called burying beetles haul mouse carcasses down into the dirt and prep them to feed their future offspring. Also known as carrion beetles, they have some stiff competition … and some help from tiny traveling mites. TRANSCRIPTWhy is this dead mouse moving?!Well, death is a magnet for life. And there’s something down there. It’s a yellow-bellied burying beetle, hustling to hide this mouse, before, say, a raccoon gets it.
Stingless Bees Guard Tasty Honey With Barricades, Bouncers and Bites

May 28, 2024 | kqed.org | Gabriela Quirós

May 28Failed to save articlePlease try again The honeybee that sweetened your tea isn’t the only kind of bee that makes the sweet stuff. More than 600 bee species across Mexico, Central and South America and tropical regions worldwide do too. But they don’t have stingers to defend their precious product. So, how do they keep thieves away? And what does their honey taste like?
Watch Ferns Get Freaky

Apr 16, 2024 | kqed.org | Gabriela Quirós

Apr 16Failed to save articlePlease try againSince before the dinosaurs roamed … and plants grew sex organs called flowers … ferns have been “doing it” through flying spores and swimming sperm. When the spores mature, a fern leaf comes alive. Look how things are moving under there. Each of these clusters is called a sorus. And every worm-like thingy is a sporangium full of spores. The sporangium has an outer ring filled with water. When it’s warm outside, that water starts to evaporate.
Fantastic Fungi with Deep Look at KQED LIVE

Jan 24, 2024 | dothebay.com | Gabriela Quirós |Shealin Ritter

What organisms are neither animals nor plants and belong in a kingdom all their own? Mushrooms! Discover the fascinating world of fungi in this special event in collaboration with KQED’s Deep Look wildlife series. You’ll meet naturalists and scientists, a psychedelics innovator and renowned Bay Area mushroom chefs. We’ll also screen Deep Look videos about lesser-known bird’s nest fungi and cage fungi, as well as the notorious death cap.
A Drain Fly's Happy Place Is Down Your Pipes

Jan 16, 2024 | kqed.org | Gabriela Quirós

Jan 16Failed to save articlePlease try againEver wonder how those tiny, jumpy flies got onto your bathroom wall? Well, they came out of your sink drain after growing up down in the pipes. A goofy, long “mustache,” fuzzy wings and some aquabatics help them survive in that soggy environment. TRANSCRIPTEver wonder where those little insects crawling around your bathroom came from? Bad news: your drain. With all that fluffy hair, it looks like a tiny moth. And some do call it a moth fly.
Varroa Mites Are a Honeybee’s 8-Legged Nightmare

Oct 24, 2023 | kqed.org | Gabriela Quirós

Oct 24Failed to save articlePlease try againEvery year, up to half the honeybee colonies in the U.S. die. Varroa mites, the bees’ ghastly parasites, are one of the main culprits. After hitching a ride into a hive, a mite mom hides in a honeycomb cell, where she and her offspring feed on a growing bee. But beekeepers and scientists are helping honeybees fight back. TRANSCRIPTHere’s a go-to recipe for beekeepers. It’s called a “sugar shake.”Take a half-cup of bees. That’s about 300.
UC Davis Scientists Collaborate in 'Deep Look' Video on Bindweed Turret Bees

Aug 10, 2023 | ucanr.edu | Gabriela Quirós |Josh Cassidy

Microbiologist Shawn Christensen, a fifth-year doctoral candidate in the Rachel Vannette laboratory, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and Vannette, his major professor, were among those collaborating with the producers of KQED Science's Deep Look for its wildlife video on bindweed turret bees.
This Fly Torpedoes a Bindweed Bee’s Nest

Aug 1, 2023 | kqed.org | Gabriela Quirós

Aug 1Failed to save articlePlease try againA “bee fly” looks a bit like a bee, but it’s a freeloader that takes advantage of a bindweed turret bee’s hard work. The bees dig underground nests and fill them with pollen they collect in the form of stylish “pollen pants.” As the bees are toiling on their nests, the flies drop their *own* eggs into them from the air. But the bees employ a tricky defense against the flies. TRANSCRIPTLife for bindweed turret bees is violent and unfair.
Springtails Do Their Own Stunts

Jun 20, 2023 | kqed.org | Gabriela Quirós

Jun 20Failed to save articlePlease try againHere at the water’s edge, where these springtails live, it’s a tiny circus that never stops. Sure, they can also walk … and glide. But the spring in springtail is for escaping. When you’re the size of a poppy seed, lots of things want to eat you. Like this young water strider. Nope!Not today, kid!Hey, hold my beer!To power these lifesaving leaps, a springtail deploys … the furcula! It just pushes down this lever and in two milliseconds it’s defying gravity.

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