This month, "Device," a KPBS Explore Project podcast, is delving into the world of entomology, or the study of bugs. Specifically ants as they appear in "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver.
UC San Diego biologist David Holway gives us the rundown on local ants and the problem with introduced species, while entomologist Michael Wall from the San Diego Natural History Museum in Balboa Park highlights why insect diversity in our city deserves appreciation — something Kingsolver could have been better at.
"The Poisonwood Bible" is about the Price family from 1950s Georgia who are woefully under-prepared for their missionary trip to the Belgian Congo. While this novel is great historical fiction, it's embellished science fiction when a horde of driver ants attack an African Village.
