Millions of Unidentified Bug Species: UCR Expert Explains

Discover the incredible world of insects with UCR entomologist Doug Yanega. Learn why millions of bug species remain unidentified and how this impacts science and biodiversity. Fascinating insights await!

To learn more fun and weird insect facts check out the rest of the videos in this series:
   • Bugs With Doug  

Douglas Yanega is the Senior Museum Scientist of the Entomology Research Museum, at the University of California, Riverside (UCR), one of the larger University-based insect collections in North America (over 4 million specimens).

Doug received his Bachelor's Degree from Cornell University in 1983, and his PhD in Entomology from the University of Kansas in 1991 under Charles D. Michener. He later worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the Illinois Natural History Survey, and then took a position as a Visiting Researcher at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, before taking the position at UC Riverside in 1999.

To learn more about Dr. Yanega’s work, visit the UC Riverside Entomology Museum - https://entmuseum.ucr.edu/ - and the UC Riverside Entomolgy Department - https://entomology.ucr.edu/ - with UC Riverside’s College of Natural & Agriculural Sciences - https://cnas.ucr.edu/.

Podcast: Can I Bug You? is the brainchild of Doug Yanega and UCR science writer Jules Bernstein. They met during a 2019 expedition to the Chiricahua Mountains in Arizona meant to protect California crops from a looming insect invasion. It was on that trip they learned they share a strong interest in excellent stories about bugs. Listen in at Spotify, Apple podcasts, or on the air at KUCR Sunday evenings at 8 p.m.

00:00 Introduction
00:10 10-20 million unidentified species
00:21 Losing species faster then naming them
00:32 UCR Entomology Museum

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