Our insect of the week for July 14, 2025 is the hackberry emperor, Asterocampa celtis [LEPIDOPTERA: Nymphalidae]. It gets its name from the hackberry tree (the host plant for the larvae). Fun fact – it is rarely spotted visiting flowers (which is relatively rare for butterflies). It does not pollinate flowers when it feeds from them. Any you may have thought all butterflies were pollinators as adults. So, what do the adults eat, Mark? Typically they feed on hackberry sap, dead animals (the liquids generated as they decay), and old fruits. It also may land on humans to drink perspiration (which contains a fair amount of salts). It is a species native to central Illinois.

The specimen in this photograph was collected (and photographed) by our former member, Frank Hitchell in Peoria County.