In the late 1990's DNR insect surveyors led by Richard Henderson visited remnant prairie on the southwest slope of Frederick's Hill, among many other sites in the state.
The original results of their survey at Pheasant Branch are available here as a pdf, or below (with updated taxonomies where indicated).
This prairie specialist weevil's host plant is leadplant.
Trichapion (modicum not yet represented in the guide):
http://bugguide.net/node/view/251462
An image is linked from this page of Chicago Wilderness Region conservative beetles:
http://www.neiu.edu/~cwinsect/p_coleoptera.html
Adults feed on insects as well as pollen and nectar, and are commonly found on goldenrods.
According to http://www.chicagowildernessmag.org/issues/spring2005/soldierbeetle.html, the related Chauliognathus marginatus pupae survive the winter in soil and leaf litter "by producing a sugar-based antifreeze and entering into a state of diapause, the insect version of hibernation."
Acanthoscelides (seminulum not yet in the guide):
http://bugguide.net/node/view/88416
Its host is corn.
From bugguide: "Probably native to the tropics/subtropics of Mexico and Central America, introduced elsewhere, incl. the US and Europe"; its host is corn.
Feeds on knotweeds (Polygonum).
Swamp milkweed beetles are said to prefer to feed on the leaves and flowers of swamp milkweed, but can also be found feeding on other members of the milkweed genus, including common and whorled milkweed.
From bugguide: "Nearly ubiquitous in prairie samples taken in Wisconsin (Sauer 2009)".
Leaf and flower eaters - each species usually feeds on only specific species of plants.
From bugguide: "feed on fungus (mostly mildew on leaf surfaces); powdery mildew".
Native to Japan, now common in much of the U.S.
From bugguide: "feeds on various herbaceous plants, incl. alfalfa and red clover".
From bugguide: "where known, both adults and larvae in most cases feed on spores or hyphae of fungi".
From bugguide: "native to Europe, introduced in NA (now across most of the US) ... Introduced to control knapweed (Centaurea spp.)".
Originally indicated as family Issidae by the survey. What are now known as "Piglet bugs" (Caliscelidae) used to be a subfamily of Issidae, so it's possible the surveyed species is not in current day Caliscelidae.
The survey indicates this species is a prairie specialist.
From bugguide: "adventive and widespread in NA ... infests >400 plant species".
Originally listed as Aceratagallia by the survey, whcih bugguide seems to indicate is now a subgenus of Ceratagallia.
The survey indicates this species is a prairie specialist.
The survey indicates this species is a prairie specialist.
Flexamia (pectinata not yet in the guide):
http://bugguide.net/node/view/149514
The survey indicates this species is a prairie specialist.
Laevicephalus (minimus not yet in the guide):
http://bugguide.net/node/view/23111
Laevicephalus (minimus not yet in the guide):
http://bugguide.net/node/view/23111
The survey indicates this species is a prairie specialist.
Polyamia (caperata not yet in the guide):
http://bugguide.net/node/view/33558
From bugguide: "adventive and widespread in NA ... nymphs and adults feed on legumes such as Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and Crownvetch (Securigera varia), plus grasses".
From bugguide: "nymphs and adults feed on cotton, soybeans, and more than 50 other crops, plus commercially-grown flowers, fruit trees, forest tree nurseries, and weeds (Over half of the US cultivated plant species are listed as host plants for tarnished plant bugs) ... the most common plant bug in the US". Also quite common at Pheasant Branch.
From bugguide: "polyphagous (recorded from over two dozen spp. in 15 plant families)".
Listed in family Lygaeidae in the original survey, Zeridoneus costalis is now a member of Rhyparochromidae.
Lots of good info on the bugguide page, including: "This ant is often associated with oak woodlands of various sorts. ... Often build their nests deep underground, staying inactive during the summer months, and returning to activity when the weather cools. "The earliest flying of our cool climate North American ants." ... Young workers are "overfed" and swell with fat, from which a nutritious glandular secretion is produced that is the main food upon which the year's single brood of workers and alates is reared. After this corpulent stage, the storage workers lose weight and sclerotize to become the forager (temporal) caste.
From bugguide: "Adults take nectar; larvae are predators or predator-inquilines of other Hymenoptera that nest in twigs or other woody sites".
Gasteruption (tarsatoium not yet in the guide):
http://bugguide.net/node/view/7742
By far the most abundant grasshopper in the (planted) prairies at Pheasant Branch.