Nature Snippets

About Nature Snippets

This podcast is devoted to celebrating the natural world. Topics include discussions of specific organisms, natural phenomena, and actions to protect the natural world and our fellow travelers. As an aquatic ecologist, I often focus on life in freshwater. Many episodes will be based upon writings published in the last several years on biodiversity and the natural history of diverse organisms including invertebrates. The new cover art was designed by Lauren McCabe and is based on a calligrapha beetle. See more of Lauren's art here: https://www.instagram.com/lauren.mcc.photography/

Publisher

Declan McCabe

Category

science

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

7 Jan 2022

Latest episode

19 Mar 2026

Latest episodes

55 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   19 Mar 2026

   Winter fireflies

   On any warm winter day, there's a chance that you'll encounter a winter firefly. These important predatory beetles are a sign that there's a thriving food web in your yard or local forest. This episode discuses the remarkable biology of these insects. The episode art was uploaded to Wikimedia Commons by Katja Schulz. (https://www.flickr.com/photos/treegrow)

2. 

   23 May 2025

   Cellar Spiders: Leggy Pest Control in Your Home or Mine

   This episode explores the benefits of cellar spiders as natural pest control in homes, highlighting their role in maintaining ecological balance.

3. 

   16 Apr 2025

   Water Pennies: Flat as a Pancake

   I recorded this back in January and am finally getting around to launching it today. This episode features a fascinating little beetle larva that clings to rocks in rivers and in wave-washed lake shores. Water penny beetle larvae were first mis-described as isopods and later the error was fixed. You can find them on river rocks where they graze on periphyton. The episode art is from photos taken by then UVM student Erin Hayes Pontius when she worked in the lab at St. Michael's College. It shows a water penny (genus Psephenus) on the left and a false water penny (genus Ectopria) on the right.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

7 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

6 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 51 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

69

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

82

Contact Nature Snippets

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.