News

Chasing bumble bees on a patch of prairie

INHS scientists, including insect collection manager Tommy McElrath, conducted bumble bee surveillance as part of a contract with the Illinois Department of Transportation for a few parcels in northern Illinois affected by road and highway construction projects. These parcels may or may not be prime habitat for bees. But if something rare turns up, like […]

Tarantulas in a pickle jar

Tommy McElrath describes some of the unusual ways specimens have been stored over time, including toe-tagged tarantula specimens sharing a recycled pickle jar. Read the full story of the tarantulas and more about the hands-on work required to keep insect collection specimens properly preserved at the News Bureau website.

New genus of treehopper named after Selena Quintanilla, the queen of Tejano music

Graduate student Brendan Morris and Dr. Chris Dietrich recently described a new genus and species of Treehopper; Selenacentrus after the singer Selena Quintanilla (the Queen of Tejano music). The hopper flies in South Texas, naturally. Read the story from Science Daily.