Insect of the week (September 16, 2024)
This week, we turn our attention to the insect order Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths). Our featured insect is Zerene cesonia, the dogface sulphur butterfly. It is classified in the family Pieridae. This butterfly is often found along roadsides. Adults...
Insect of the week (September 9, 2024)
Yet another beetle this week. We now examine the family Cerambycidae. Tetraopes tetrophthalmus is our featured insect. It is commonly called the red milkweed beetle and is often found on milkweed plants. If you know a smattering of Greek, you know both the...
Insect of the week (September 2, 2024)
Continuing with our beetle theme (they are exceedingly diverse with nearly 400,000 described species), we focus on Melanactes piceus. This species was described by de Geer in 1774. That is the same year he described our previous insect of the week (yes, same...
Insect of the week (August 26, 2024)
We return to the beetles this week (order Coleoptera) and focus on the goldenrod soldier beetle, Chauliognathus pensylvanicus. No, that is not a typo – the spelling of that area with 1 “n” was common when this species was described by de Geer in...
Insect of the week (August 19, 2024)
This week, we focus on the insect order Hemiptera. In this case, the “big-eyed toad bug” – Gelastocoris oculatus. This insect was described by Fabricius in 1798. It is classified in the family Gelastocoridae. It can be found in North America...
Insect of the week (August 12, 2024)
Our insect of the week for August 12, 2024 is the Polyphemus moth (Antheraea polyphemus). I htought it was time to feature another group of insects. This species is classified in the order Lepidoptera, family Saturniidae). This species was described by Pieter Cramer...
Insect of the week (August 5, 2024)
Our insect of the week for August 5 is not a beetle. Surprise! For the last 3 weeks, we have been discussing beetles. If you start observing animals in central Illinois, on average about 75% of those you observe will be beetles. Yes, they are that common and diverse....
Insect of the week (July 29, 2024)
Our insect of the week is Phengodes fusciceps. This beetle species is classified in the family Phengodidae (also known as glowworm beetles). Both females and larvae have bio-luminescent organs. Larvae and females are predators and typically feed on millipedes. Winged...
Insect of the week (July 22, 2024)
Continuing our theme of beetles for the second “insect of the week,” I thought it appropriate to focus on the rainbow scarab (Phanaeus vindex). This species was described by MacLeay in 1819. Although it looks most exotic, it is a species native to...
Peoria approximella (a moth named in New York for Peoria, IL). Photo of Michigan specimen courtesy Jim Vargo (used with permission).