The Kankakee County Soil and Water Conservation District conducted insect surveys to document and compare insect species in native wildflower prairie vs. adjacent turf grass at Hawkins Park.

 

Surveys were conducted June - October 2020. 

 

Insects we identified include honeybees, bumble bees, solitary bees, green metallic sweat bees, wasps, ants, flies, hover flies, butterflies, moths, skippers, beetles, true bugs, grasshoppers, crickets, and katydids (See Table 1).

 

Overall, surveys show that the prairie habitat and turf grass had a comparable number of insect subgroups collected per trap (Figure 1) and per visit (Figure 2), while the prairie had a greater number of individual insects collected per visit (Figure 3) and overall (Figure 4).

 

Why is this important? Turf grass is devoid of important native flower species that our pollinators need to survive. Bees, butterflies, flies, and more depend upon native plants for food and shelter. Consider planting native plants in your lawn to help our important insects! 

 

Learn more about the importance of native plants and pollinators on our "Teaching Resources and Citizen Science" webpage!