Bug-out with Curator of Invertebrate Zoology Ainsley Seago as she explores the colorful and creative ways bugs use their rear ends to track down meals, scare away enemies, and even find love.

Dr. Ainsley Seago studies the evolutionary history of beetles, from systematics and diversification of Staphylinoidea (rove, carrion, and fungus beetles) to the evolution of iridescence in Curculionoidea (weevils and their relatives). She has used everything from rotting squid traps to synchrotron radiation to better understand beetles in all their glory, but believes that the most important tool of all is a strong museum collection. Dr. Seago is thrilled to work with the CMNH collection and exhibit teams to bring the museum’s outstanding invertebrate collection to a wider audience, while using it to support research in Pittsburgh, the US, and beyond.