Our insect of the week for October 12, 2026 is the American Lappet Moth, Phyllodesma americanum [LEPIDOPTERA: Lasiocampidae]. This species was described by the American entomologist Thaddeus Harris in 1841. Fun fact - he was a librarian at Harvard University for 25 years and introduced one of the earliest card catalogs. His focus on insect life...

Our insect of the week for October 5, 2026 is the ambush bug, Phymata americana [HEMIPTERA: Reduviidae]. This species was described by the Swedish zoologist, Douglas Melin, in 1930. This is the most common ambush bug encountered in central Illinois. However, there are several other species (and my vision is quite blurry as I write this). If I...

Our insect of the week for September 28, 2026 is the wheel bug, Arilus cristatus. [HEMIPTERA: Reduviidae]. This species was described by Linnaeus in 1763. This is one of the largest terrestrial Hemiptera in North America (and is often encountered in central Illinois). Adults are easily recognized by the wheel shaped cog (actually pronotal ridge)....

Our insect of the week for September 21, 2026 is Caloptilia rhoifoliella, the sumac leafblotch miner. [LEPIDOPTERA: Gracillariidae] In keeping with our focus on insects which feed on poison ivy, yes, this is one of the host plants preferred by the caterpillar. As the name implies, the caterpillar hides in plain sight by mining between the upper...

Our insect of the week for September 14, 2026 is another species dependent upon the poison ivy plant. This is another species of moth, Marathyssa basalis [LEPIDOPTERA: Euteliidae]. This species was described by Francis Walker (an English entomologist) in 1865. Fun fact - he was born on July 31, 1809 (the same year Lincoln and Darwin were born -...

Since we focused on an insect that consumes poison ivy last week, I thought it appropriate to focus on another unrelated insect which also relies on poison ivy as food while in the caterpillar stages of its life. In this case, I refer to the species Dichorda iridaria, the showy emerald moth [LEPIDOPTERA: Geometridae]. This species was described...

Our insect of the week for August 31, 2026 is the poison ivy sawfly, Arge humeralis [HYMENOPTERA: Argidae]. It was described by the French naturalist Palisot de Beauvois in 1809. Fun fact, his full name/ title was Ambroise Marie François Joseph Palisot, Baron de Beauvois. Fun fact, while traveling to the United States, he was robbed of his...

Our insect for the week of August 24, 2026 is another ant. This time, we focus on Lasius claviger [HYMENOPTERA: Formicidae]. This species was described by the German entomologist Julius Roger in 1862. This native species is often found nesting under stones and in rotting wood in central Illinois.This species exhibits temporary social parasitism....

Our insect of the week for August 17, 2026 is another ant. This time it is Strumigenys clypeata. [HYMENOPTERA: Formicidae]. This species was described by the German entomologist, Julius Roger in 1863. This is a predatory ant native to the eastern United States (including central Illinois). Workers are cryptic foragers which hunt small arthropods...

Our insect of the week for August 10, 2026 is yet another ant. Yes, there are over 125 described species of ants from Illinois. No, I do not plan to show you all of them (at least for now *grin*). The ant you see here is Aphaenogaster tennesseensis. [HYMENOPTERA: Formicidae]. This ant was described by the Austrian entomologist Gustav Mayr in...

Our insect of the week for August 3, 2026 is another ant species, Myrmecina americana. [HYMENOPTERA: Formicidae]. It was described by the Italian entomologist, Carlo Emery in 1895. Colonies of this ant are often found nesting in the soil under logs in forested areas. It has also been recorded nesting under stones. Adults are presumed to be...

Our insect of the week for July 27, 2026 is another ant, Proceratium silaceum. [HYMENOPTERA: Formicidae]. This ant was described by the German entomologist Julius Roger in 1863. Workers are slow moving and are most commonly collected via sifting and extracting samples of rotting wood (using Berlese funnels or Winkler eclectors). I have only...

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 ants. Yes, our second Illinois ant being featured is a farmer. Like their relatives,...

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 studied one branch of science more than a decade. For those who know me, You know that I am...

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) emergence of adults along the Illinois River near Peoria. Nymphs are aquatic and live in...

Our insect of the week for June 29, 2026 is the Giant Swallowtail, Papilio cresphontes. It was described by Pieter Cramer [1777]. Fun fact, when you see brackets around the year in a species name, it indicates the date was not originally printed in the text and has been inferred by others (either from historical archives or someone who...

Our insect of the week for June 22, 2026 is the Black Swallowtail, Papilio polyxenes. It was described by Fabricius in 1775. He was a Danish zoologist and a student of Carl Linnaeus. Many consider Fabricius one of the most important entomologists of the 18th century. He named roughly 10,000 species of animals. Fun fact, almost all butterflies...

Our insect of the week for June 15, 2026 is the Pipe-Vine Swallowtail, Battus philenor. It was described by Linné in 1771. As many know, Carl Linnaeus was a Swedish biologist who formalized biological nomenclature. He was enobled in 1761 and is referred to as Carl von Linné after that date. Hence the above reference as he described this species...

Our insect of the week (for June 8, 2026) is one more fossil from Pit 11 near Braidwood, Illinois in my collection. I'm just trying to give a hint of the diversity of insects which were alive during the Carboniferous in what we now call Illinois. I will delve into more modern insects in coming weeks. I realize this one did not photograph that...

Our insect of the week once again focuses on the ancient insects which once lived in what we now call Illinois. During their short lives (over 300 million years ago), our region was located in tropical climes. The specimen in these photographs in a fossil found in a concretion (iron carbonate). This specimen was identified by another...

I thought I would focus on something a bit different for our insect of the week for May 25, 2026. We see a tremendous diversity of insects all around us each day (when we are paying attention). It is easy to forget that most of the species we see are a small remnant of the vast insect lineage through time. In Illinois, we were fortunate to have...

Our insect of the week for May 18, 2026 is Patrobus longicornis [COLEOPTERA: Carabidae]. This species was described in 1823 by the American entomologist, Thomas Say. Adults are often attracted to lights at night. They are also found in wetter habitats (near the edges of streams and ponds). This species is most often found in northeastern North...

Our insect of the week for May 11, 2026 is the beetle, Podabrus flavicollis [COLEOPTERA: Cantharidae]. This is sometimes referred to as the yellow necked soldier beetle. This species was described by the American entomologist John Lawrence LeConte in 1851. He described roughly half of the known insect fauna of the US during his lifetime. This...

Our insect of the week for May 4, 2026 is Diachrysia balluca Geyer, 1832 [LEPIDOPTERA: Noctuidae], commonly known as the hologram moth. This species was described in 1861 by Carl Geyer (a German artist and entomologist who illustrated supplements to Jacob Hübner's works on Lepidoptera). This is a large moth with forewings which shimmer when light...

Our insect of the week for April 27, 2026 is Lestes rectangularis [ODONATA: Lestidae]. This species was described by the American entomologist, Thomas Say in 1839. Yes, another species he described posthumously. This species has the common name slender spreadwing. We may have learned some time ago that dragonflies hold their wings in one pose...

Our insect of the week for April 20, 2026 is Tramea onusta [ODONATA: Libellulidae], commonly known as the red saddlebags. This species was described in 1861 by Hermann Hagen (a German entomologist who we also met a couple of weeks ago). This species if found in North America, Central Amrica and the Caribbean. Adults have dark red blotches near...

Our insect of the week for April 13, 2026 is Epitheca cynosura [ODONATA: Corduliidae], commonly known as the common baskettail. This species was described in 1839 by Thomas Say (a pioneering American entomologist). Although he died in 1834, some of his works were published posthumously. He is buried in New Harmony, Indiana and, yes, I have...

Our insect of the week for April 6, 2026 is Gomphurus externus [ODONATA: Gomphidae], commonly known as the plains clubtail. This species was described in 1858 by Hermann Hagen (a German entomologist who specialized in Neuroptera and Odonata). He accepted a position at Harvard University in 1867 and became the first entomologist in the United...

Our insect of the week for March 30, 2026 is Calopteryx maculata, the ebony jewelwing (also known as the black-winged damselfly). [ODONATA: Calopterygidae] It was described by Ambroise Marie François Joseph Palisot, Baron de Beauvois (a French naturalist) in 1807. This species is commonly found throughout the eastern United States and southern...

Our insect of the week for March 23, 2026 is Anax junius, the green darner. [ODONATA: Aeshnidae] It was described by Dru Drury (an English entomologist) in 1773. This species is commonly found throughout the continental United States and southern Canada. It has been reported as far south as Panama; populations are also known form Hawaii and the...

Our insect of the week for March 16, 2026 is Bellura obliqua, the cattail borer moth. [LEPIDOPTERA: Noctuidae] It was described by Francis Walker (an English entomologist) in 1865. As the common name impllies, this species is found in marshes and along creeks where there are cattails. Caterpillars may also bore into stems of water lilies,...

Our insect of the week for March 9, 2026 is Acharia stimulea, the Saddleback Caterpillar moth. [LEPIDOPTERA: Limacodidae] It was described by James Clemens (an American entomologist) in 1860. We featured a related species, Lithacodes fasciola, as our insect of the week for July 28, 2025. This moth is typically recognized by its larval phase...

Our insect of the week for March 2, 2026 is Euclemensia bassettella, the Kermes Scale moth. [LEPIDOPTERA: Cosmopterigidae] It was described by James Clemens (an American entomologist; his collection now resides in the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia) in 1864. Yes, the Civil War was still raging while this species was being described....

Our insect of the week for February 23, 2026 is Tegeticula yuccasella (the yucca moth) [LEPIDOPTERA: Prodoxidae]. It was described by Charles Valentine Riley [the first insect curator of the Smithsonian Institution] in 1872. This species is known from Texas to southern Canada including central Illinois. Larvae feed on various species of yucca....

Our insect of the week for February 16, 2026 is Dyseriocrania griseocapitella (the Chinquapin leaf-miner) [LEPIDOPTERA: Eriocraniidae]. It was described by Thomas Walsingham [an English politician and amateur entomologist] in 1898. Yep, same politician mentioned last week. This species is known from Nova Scotia to Florida; central Illinois is at...

Our insect of the week for February 9, 2026 is Epimartyria auricrinella (the goldcap moss-eater moth) [LEPIDOPTERA: Micropterigidae]. It was described by Thomas Walsingham [an English politician and amateur entomologist] in 1898. We are once again focusing on Lepidoptera. This species is known from eastern pats of the United States, including...

Our insect of the week for February 2, 2026 is the drain fly [also known as bathroom moth midge and bathroom moth fly] (Clogmia albipunctata) [DIPTERA: Psychodidae]. It was described by Samuel Williston in 1893. Yes, I decided to switch to flies for the start of February. This species often appears in homes and I have been contacted multiple...

Our insect of the week for January 26, 2026 is the Io moth (Automeris io). It was described by Johann Fabricius in 1775. This species is known throughout eastern North America including central Illinois. The adults are sexually dimorphic (males have bright yellow forewings whilst females have red-brown forewings). Males also have much larger...

Our insect of the week for January 19, 2026 is the red admiral butterfly (Vanessa atalanta). It was described by Linnaeus in 1758. This species is known throughout temperate regions of North America including central Illinois, central America, North Africa, Europe and Asia. It has also been recorded on islands in the Caribbean and Hawaii (I have...

Our insect of the week for January 12, 2026 is my all time favorite central Illinois butterfly - the buckeye (Junonia coenia). It was described by Jacob Hübner in 1822. This species is known throughout the eastern United States. Adults are often found resting on low vegetation in open areas. Caterpillars appear to prefer plants which produce...