UW-L bug guy Barrett Klein on ant sandwiches, twerking bugs and sleeping with bees

UW-La Crosse entomologist, Dr. Barrett Klein, stops in the WIZM studio for La Crosse Talk PM to have some fun discussions about bugs, from his childhood ant sandwich to how grumpy bees need a nap or they won’t twerk just right.

La Crosse Talk PM airs weekdays at 5:06 p.m. Listen on the WIZM app, online here, or on 92.3 FM / 1410 AM / 106.7 FM (north of Onalaska). Find all the podcasts here or subscribe to La Crosse Talk PM wherever you get your podcasts.

Klein, who has an infectious laugh that shows up often, has been at UW-L for 11 years in entomology — the study of insects.

We began the show just bouncing around on different ways people think about insects and insect things happening — like the cicadas about to hatch in the area.

Then talked a bit about bugs as food, which led to Klein’s ant sandwich story. Over the summer he was in New York studying, not just bees, but bees’ sleep, so we spent quite a bit of time on them. We also discussed eating bugs and what ones are tastier fresh vs. canned.