HISTORY ON THE AIRWAVES
“We’ve been sending vinegar flies into orbit since 1947. I wish they went up in little space suits”
DR ERICA MCALISTER (pictured), fly expert and senior curator at the Natural History Museum, tells us about her returning series Metamorphosis: How Insects Transformed Our World
What’s the premise of the series?
There’s looking at nature for its beauty or for its ecological value, but there’s also looking at nature for inspiration. Insects have been around for millions of years, and the idea behind the series is that successful insect species have evolved to be amazing in their environments.
The series also looks at pioneering entomologists – not necessarily people who are trained in entomology, but people who look at insects in a completely different way. They examine something obscure about a species’ biomechanics or physiology – illuminating some way in which the insect can help us.
So how can insects help us?
There’s a beetle that stands on its head and is able to condense water on its bum, which is a brilliant skill if you ask me. Bioengineers have been looking at the nanostructure of this insect as a way to think in new ways about water-condensing qualities.
This all links to our work at the Natural History Museum, because within our collections we hold the rich biological heritage of the planet. We want to encourage people to think more about these collections and how they can help us in the future.
Has the idea that we might look to insects for ideas and in research been around for a long time?
Yes. Paper [an invention attributed to Han dynasty Chinese court official Cai Lun, c50–121 AD] was inspired by watching paper wasps. And we’ve been sending vinegar flies into space since 1947 to study the effects on them. I wish they had little suits, but I interviewed a woman from Nasa and she was like, “No…”
Can you tell us about some of the historical characters you encounter?
There’s no doubt that I’ve learned from a long line of eccentrics! One of the people we discussed in the first series was flea expert Miriam Rothschild [1908–2005]. She used to turn up at the museum with a brace of pheasants or partridges to give to members of staff. She’d always wear wellington boots, which is not technically allowed in the collections – but it’s Miriam Rothschild and you can’t really say no.
In the new series, we look at an African-American researcher called Charles Henry Turner [1867–1923]. Because of prejudice, he was never able to get any formal research work but he independently produced scores of papers based on brilliant experiments, trying to determine how insects think and learn. Three of his papers made it into [renowned journal] Science, which is extraordinary because he did this with so many obstacles in his way. His work on bees was amazing, and he’s only now truly getting the recognition he deserves.
Metamorphosis: How Insects Transformed Our World returns to BBC Radio 4 on Monday 23 May. The first series is available to stream via BBC Sounds