The Six-Legged Narrative EPS 2026-06-25

On this episode of The Six-Legged Narrative: moths are finally getting the credit they deserve as nocturnal pollinators — and community moth nights are making it possible to see them up close. Then, a breakthrough in monarch butterfly tracking is turning smartphones into wildlife receivers and filling in the gaps of one of nature's most epic journeys. We visit the last eastern population of the regal fritillary butterfly, holding on at an active military installation in Pennsylvania. A look at the genetics of ant colonies reveals that the rules governing who becomes queen may be written into the genome in surprisingly compact form. A new fly species from the Himalayas brings a forty-eight-year taxonomic mystery to a close. And finally — please stop putting your house spiders outside.