July 18, 2026 Jubilee State Park
We held our July field trip at Jubilee State Park near Peoria, Illinois. We walked some trails starting at Red Fox Run picnic area. The forecast was for very hot weather and the water levels along the Illinois and Vermillion Rivers were much too high for hiking as...
Insect of the week (July 20, 2026)
Our insect of the week for July 20, 2026 is the ant, Trachymyrmex septentrionalis. [HYMENOPTERA: Formicidae]. This ant was described by the American naturalist Henry McCook in 1881. This is the northern most species in the ant tribe Attini – the fungus growing...
Insect of the week (July 13, 2026)
Our insect of the week for July 13, 2026 is the ant, Stigmatomma pallipes. [HYMENOPTERA: Formicidae] This species was described by the American naturalist, Samuel Haldeman in 1844. Fun fact about Mr. Haldeman – he once confided to a colleague that he never...
Insect of the week (July 6, 2026)
Our insect of the week for July 6, 2026 is Hexagenia bilineata [Ephemeroptera: Ephemeridae]. This species was described by the American entomologist, Thomas Say in 1824 (as Baetis bilineata). I chose this insect to celebrate the recent (June 18 – 22, 2026)...
Peoria approximella (a moth named in New York for Peoria, IL). Photo of Michigan specimen courtesy Jim Vargo (used with permission).