Mosquitos, ticks, black flies, and gnats will be swarming in record numbers this summer, and you can thank El Nino. The warm winter and heavy rains have made perfect breeding grounds for the little buggers. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the world of the creepy crawly. Also, how to solve mysteries with blowflies and maggots, a flea circus with real live fleas, and the deadly kiss of the black widow spider.

Thanks to El Nino, this could be the worst summer in years for mosquitoes, black flies and other bugs. But mosquitoes aren't just an American problem. University of Arizona epidemiologist Kent Campbell tells Steve Paulson about the malaria epidemic that's sweeping the tropics. Also, entomologist Mark Winston tells Judith Strasser about the bizarre history of pest control. Winston is the author of Nature Wars.

Gordon Grice loves black widow spiders. He has a morbid curiosity about how they kill their prey. Grice talks with Steve Paulson about his book The Red Hourglass: Lives of the Predators.

• week of 05/03/98 - hour 2
• week of 07/04/99 - hour 2