As we start 2026, I thought it might be appropriate to focus on some of the more colorful butterflies found in central Illinois. Personally, I am already looking forward to spring and the chance to observe many more insects. Our insect of the week for January 5, 2026 is one of my favorite butterflies - the zebra swallowtail (Eurytides marcellus)....

Our insect of the week for December 29, 2025 is Necrophila americana [COLEOPTRA: Staphylinidae]. This species and relatives have recently been moved from the separate family Silphidae to the rove beetle family. This species was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. He is known as the father of modern taxonomy. Adults arrive at a carcass shortly...

Our insect of the week for December 22, 2025 is Hydrophilus ovatus [COLEOPTRA: Hydrophilidae]. This species was described by Max Gemminger (a German entomologist) & Edgar von Harold (another German entomologist) in 1868. Max was curator at the Royal Bavarian Museum in Munich and worked with Edgar to produce a 12 volume catalog of beetles. The...

Our insect of the week for December 15, 2025 is the beetle Geotrupes balyi [COLEOPTERA: Geotrupidae]. It is commonly called Baly's earth boring beetle. This species was described by the French entomologist Henri Jekel in 1865. He described over 550 taxa during his life and has over 60 species of beetles named after him. Adults are most active in...

Our insect of the week for December 8, 2025 is the turbulent phosphila, Phosphila turbulenta [LEPIDOPTERA: Noctuidae]. This moth is found throughout eastern and central North America (including central Illinois). It was originally described by the German entomologist Jacob Hübner in 1818 (the same year Illinois became a state). The common and...

Our insect of the week for December 1, 2025 is the locust underwing, Euparthenos nubilis [LEPIDOPTERA: Erebidae]. This moth is found throughout eastern and central North America (including central Illinois). It was originally described by the German entomologist Jacob Hübner in 1823. This species is often found in woodlands where the host tree...

Our insect of the week for November 24, 2025 is the yellow-banded underwing, Catocala cerogama [LEPIDOPTERA: Erebidae]. This moth is found throughout eastern and central North America (including central Illinois). It was originally described by the French entomologist Achille Guenée in 1852. This species is often found in woodlands where the host...

Our insect of the week for November 17, 2025 is the hog sphinx, Darapsa myron [LEPIDOPTERA: Sphingidae]. This species is also known by the common name Virginia Creeper Sphinx. This moth is found throughout eastern and central North America (including central Illinois). It was originally described by the Dutch entomologist Pieter Cramer in 1780....

Our insect of the week for November 10, 2025 is the twin spotted sphinx, Smerinthus jamaicensis [LEPIDOPTERA: Sphingidae]. This moth is found throughout eastern North America (including central Illinois). It was originally described by the British entomologist Dru Drury in 1773. Adults of this species typically do not feed and are often attracted...

Our insect of the week for November 3, 2025 is the Northern Pearly Eye, Lethe anthedon [LEPIDOPTERA: Nymphalidae]. This butterfly is often observed in central Illinois during warmer months. It was originally described by the American Zoologist, Austin Clark in 1936 (less than a century ago). Adults of this species feed on sap, dung, fungi and...

Our insect of the week for October 27, 2025 is the painted lichen moth, Hypoprepia fucosa. [LEPIDOPTERA: Erebidae]. This species was described by the German entomologist, Jacob Hübner, in 1831. This moth is native to central Illinois and is found in the United States and Canada (east of the Rocky Mountains). Adults fly from May through August....

Our insect of the week (for October 20, 2025) is the hornet clearwing, Paranthrene simulans [LEPIDOPTERA: Sesiidae]. It was described by Agustus Grote in 1881. He is best remembered for his work on North American Noctuidae. As you can see from the image, it mimics a hornet (quite successfully). The larvae feeds on chestnut and red and white oaks....

Our insect of the week for October 13, 2025 is another mantidfly - Say's mantidfly, Dicromantispa sayi [NEUROPTERA: Mantispidae], described by the American entomologist Nathan Banks in 1897. As we saw in another Illinois mantidfly last week, the raptorial forelegs are similar to what we see in mantids. Convergent evolution again as these insects...

Our insect of the week for October 6, 2025 is the wasp mantidfly, Climaciella brunnea [NEUROPTERA: Mantispidae], described by the American entomologist Thomas Say in 1824. Note the raptorial forelegs (similar to what we see in mantids). Nice example of convergent evolution as these insects are also predators. It is called the wasp mantidfly as it...

Our insect of the week for September 29, 2025 is another blister beetle. This time, we focus on Meloe impressus. This species was described by Kirby in 1837. William Kirby was an English entomologist who was also a country rector. He wrote a 4 volume "Introduction to Entomology" with William Spence. The common name is oil beetle. As with similar...

Our insect of the week for September 22, 2025 is the striped blister beetle, Epicauta vittata. This species was described by Fabricius (a student of Linnaeus) in 1775. We have been focused on blister beetles this month. Although this species feeds on grasshopper eggs as a larvae, it is considered an agricultural pest because the adults feed on...

Our insect of the week for September 15, 2025, is Epicauta pensylvanica (De Geer, 1775). [COLEOPTERA: Meloidae]. Yes, there is a single "n" in the final part of the species name. That is how the original territory was spelled a long time ago. Once a species name is formally described, it remains with that spelling forever. This species is...

Our insect of the week for September 8, 2025, is Epicauta funebris Horn, 1873. [COLEOPTERA: Meloidae]. It is commonly called the margined blister beetle. As with August, I thought it appropriate to focus on another beetle family for most of September and early October. This species is found in North America and is native to central Illinois....

Our insect of the week for September 1, 2025, is Texania campestris (Say, 1823). [COLEOPTERA: Buprestidae]. It is commonly called the hardwood heartwood buprestid. It also belongs to the family commonly called metallic wood boring beetles (just like the beetle featured in the previous couple of weeks). Seemed like a good idea to focus on a family...

Our insect of the week for August 25, 2025, is Dicerca divaricata (Say, 1823) [COLEOPTERA: Buprestidae]. It is commonly called the flatheaded hardwood borer. It also belongs to the family commonly called metallic wood boring beetles (just like the beetle featured last week and the week prior). It is found in North America and is native to central...

Our insect of the week for August 18, 2025, is Chrysobothris femorata. The common name is flatheadded appletree borer [COLEOPTERA: Buprestidae]. It also belongs to the family commonly called metallic wood boring beetles (just like the beetle featured last week). It is found in Central America and North America.The larvae often burrow just under...

Our insect of the week for August 11, 2025, is Agrilus obsoletoguttatus. There is no common name for this beetle [COLEOPTERA: Buprestidae]. It belongs to the family commonly called metallic wood boring beetles. The larvae often burrow just under the bark of various species of hardwood trees. There is no common name for this beetle. It was...

Our insect of the week for August 4, 2025, is Catocala ilia (Cramer, 1776) [LEPIDOPTERA: Erebidae]. The common name is beloved underwing. Adults fly from June through September. Larvae feed on various species of oak. Some larvae grow to roughly 3 inches in length. This species is found in the eastern United States and southern Canada. A...

Our insect of the week for July 28, 2025 is the yellow-shouldered slug moth, Lithacodes fasciola (Herrich-Schäffer, 1854) [LEPIDOPTERA: Limacodidae]. It is also known by the common name, ochre-winged hag moth. Both names are so appealing, aren't they? Adults can be encountered at lights from May through August. Larvae feed on many trees including...

Our insect of the week for July 21, 2025 is the spring azure, Celastrina ladon (Cramer, 1780) [LEPIDOPTERA: Lycaenidae]. Yes, I know it is no longer spring, but there are so many insects we could discuss. This insect is found from Alaska and Canada south to isolated pockets int he mountains of Colombia and has also been reported from Molokai...

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...

Our insect of the week for July 7, 2025 is Helophilus fasciatus (Walker, 1849), the narrow-headed marsh fly [DIPTERA: Syrphidae]. Adults of most members of this family are also called hover flies as they can appear to remain mostly motionless when visiting a flower. Adults visit flowers to obtain both nectar and pollen. Yes, this and many related...

Our insect of the week for June 30, 2025 is Tabanus atratus Fabricius, 1775 [DIPTERA: Tabanidae], commonly known as the horsefly. It is native to central Illinois and adults are often observed in suburban lawns, grasslands, and forests. Large compound eyes in adults are dichoptic (separated) in females and holoptic (continuous) in males....

Our insect of the week for June 23, 2025 is the bee fly - Exoprosopa butleri Johnson & Johnson, 1959 [DIPTERA: Bombyliidae]. This species is native to central Illinois. Adults are found throughout the summer months. Although aduls feed on nectar and pollen (and some are important pollinators), many larvae are parasitoids of other insects....

Our insect of the week for June 16, 2025 is the yellowjacket hover fly - Milesia virginiensis (Drury, 1773) [DIPTERA: Syrphidae]. This species is native to central Illinois. Adults are found mid-summer until early autumn. As the name implies, adults are harmless mimics of yellowjackets. [Batesian mimicry]. You can tell these are flies due to a...

Our insect of the week for June 9, 2025 is the horse bot fly - Gasterophilus intestinalis de Geer, 1776 [DIPTERA: Oestridae]. This species is found worldwide. It may be the stuff of nightmares (at least for horses). The specific name intestinalis gives you a clue, doesn't it? Adult female flies cement their eggs to the front legs and shoulders of...

Our insect of the week for June 2, 2025 is the clubbed mydas fly - Mydas clavatus (Drury, 1773) [DIPTERA: Mydidae]. It is native to central Illinois and was one of the first large flies which caught my attention as a young entomologist. Yes, they are large (up to 3 cm in length). Adults have an orange or red mark on their abdomen. Adults are...

Our insect of the week is Promachus hinei Bromley, 1931 [DIPTERA: Asilidae]. It is a member of the same family we examined last week (the genus Laphria). Adult robber flies are often fast and loud. They capture other flying insects. This species often hangs from branches waiting for prey to pass by. As with other adult robber flies, it pierces...

Our insect of the week is Laphria thoracica Fabricius, 1805 [DIPTERA: Asilidae]. As you can see in this stacked photograph, it resembles a common eastern bumblebee (which it often eats). Although not common, it can be found in central Illinois from late May through July. Adults tend to be rather shy and try to avoid possible predators (such as...

We next turn our attention to the insect order Diptera (the true flies). I plan to spend a number of weeks on these insects. Obviously you are familiar with the blood suckers (such as mosquitos, deer flies, horse flies and black flies). There are roughly 120,000 described species of Diptera worldwide. Our insect of the week is Chrysopilus...

Our insect of the week is Feniseca tarquinius (Fabricius, 1793). [LEPIDOPTERA: Lycaenidae] This is a most interesting butterfly. Commonly called the harvester butterfly, it is the only carnivorous butterfly in North America. Larvae feed on various species of aphids. Although relatively uncommon in central Illinois, it is found from spring to fall...

Our insect of the week for April 28, 2025 is the promethea silkworm moth, Callosamia promethea [LEPIDOPTERA: Saturniidae]. It is also known as the spicebush silkmoth because caterpillars prefer to eat the leaves of spicebush. You often see cocoons hanging from host plants (including sassafrass) in the wintertime. Once they emerge from the pupal...

Our insect of the week for April 21, 2025 is the snowberry clearwing moth, Hemaris diffinis [LEPIDOPTERA: Sphingidae]. It is so names because adults lose the majority of scales on their wings shortly after they emerge from the pupal stage due to their very active flight. Adults typically visit flowers during daylight hours, but may continue after...

Our insect of the week for April 14, 2025 is the luna moth, Actias luna [LEPIDOPTERA: Saturniidae]. This is one of the larger moths in North America. Adults have been observed in central Illinois as early as late April (which is why we are discussing them now). As a defensive mechanism, caterpillars often emit clicks (and can regurgitate their...

Our insect of the week for April 7, 2025 is the eight-spotted forester moth, Alypia octomaculata [LEPIDOPTERA: Noctuidae]. It can be found throughout eastern North America. These are often encountered in where open areas meet woodlands. Adults are often active during the day (and are often mistaken for butterflies). Caterpillars feed on the...