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Natural History Survey

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  • Asian Carp barrier catches turtle

    Jun 14, 2012 8:00 am

    A barrier designed to prevent Asian Carp from reaching Lake Michigan had the unintended consequence of catching a snapping turtle. This was the first known instance of an animal trapped in the mesh and the turtle was released unharmed. When first installed, migrating turtles were completely blocked by the carp barrier. Subsequent gates installed along the length of the barrier allow turtles to migrate through. The location of the gates was based on the multi-year radio telemetry study conducted by INHS herpetologists on the endangered Blandings' Turtle and other turtles in the area.

  • Microbes in gut help western corn rootworm survive rotation

    Jun 26, 2013 8:00 am

    University of Illinois researchers, including INHS Behavioral Entomologist Dr. Joseph Spencer, found that differences in the microbial community in the gut of western corn rootworms (WCR) can change their ability to survive crop rotation.

  • Study links fish stress hormones to whether they take the bait

    Aug 22, 2017 11:00 am

    Take a fish out of water and its stress hormones will go up. Adrenaline and noradrenaline, the “fight or flight” hormones, peak first, followed more gradually by cortisol. A new study reported in the Journal of Experimental Biology finds that largemouth bass whose cortisol levels rise most after a brief bout of stress are inherently harder to catch by angling. This could affect recreational fishing. If anglers are primarily capturing fish whose stress levels dictate whether they are likely to strike at a lure, “we could potentially be selecting for fish that are harder to catch,” said University of Illinois natural resources and environmental sciences professor Cory Suski, who led the new research with Illinois Natural History Survey research scientist Jeffrey Stein and graduate student Michael Louison.

  • prairie fire

    Study reconstructs 232-year history of prairie fire in Midwestern U.S.

    Oct 19, 2021 11:15 am

    Researchers combed through thousands of historical documents for first-person accounts of fires occurring between 1673 and 1905 in the Midwestern tallgrass prairie. Their study is the first systematic analysis of the timing, causes and consequences of prairie fires in this part of the world. They report their findings in Natural Areas Journal.

  • INHS scientists continue fish monitoring begun over a century ago

    Nov 1, 2012 8:00 am

    INHS fisheries biologist Josh Sherwood was featured in a recent Environmental Almanac about the Fishes of Champaign County surveys. Sherwood is conducting the fifth iteration of the surveys that began in 1885. The original Fishes of Champaign County survey was conducted by Stephen A. Forbes between 1885 and 1901 and found 65 species of fishes. A second version of the Fishes of Champaign County was conducted by Forbes and Robert E. Richardson, and added 14 species to the list. R. Weldon Larimore and Phillip W. Smith conducted the third survey in the 1950s and added 9 more species to the list. Larimore and Peter Bayley conducted the fourth survey in 1987 and brought the species list to 94 species of fishes.

  • INHS Chief Dr. Lorin I. Nevling to Retire

    Nov 5, 1996 11:00 am

  • New species of mole cricket named for INHS Entomologist Sam Heads

    Dec 15, 2011 12:00 pm

    Oscar Cadena-Castaneda, a graduate student at the Universidad Distrital Francisco Jos de Caldas in Bogot, Colombia has named a new species of mole cricket (Orthoptera: Gryllotalpidae) in honor of INHS entomologist Dr. Sam Heads. The new species, Scapteriscus headsi was described in a paper published on 12 December in the journal Zootaxa.

  • INHS partnership offers undergraduates research experiences in ecology

    Mar 3, 2017 8:00 am

    The Illinois Natural History Survey will partner with Southern Illinois University Edwardsville on a three-year grant providing immersive research experiences to undergraduates in the areas of archaeology and ecology. Research opportunities will begin this summer.

  • 2009 William H. Luckmann winner announced

    Mar 11, 2009 1:30 pm

    Nicholas A. Tinsley has won the 2009 William H. Luckmann Award for Research in Applied Entomology. His research project, "Effects of Current and Future Soybean Aphid Management Tactics on Soybean Aphids and Their Natural Enemies in Illinois," will help scientists and growers improve methods of Soybean Aphid integrated pest management. The William H. Luckmann Award is given for research that focuses on aspects of applied entomology such as arthropod pest management, use of insects in biological control programs, pollinators, or natural areas health. The research may be carried out for agricultural, horticultural, urban, medical or natural areas systems. Visit the Illinois Natural History Survey webpage to learn more about the William H. Luckmann award.

  • LMBS researchers present at Perch Summit

    Mar 24, 2014 8:00 am

    INHS Lake Michigan Biological Station researcher Charles Roswell and co-authors Sergiusz Czesny, Josh Dub, and Will Stacy were invited to present on the “Status and Trends of Yellow Perch Fishing and Harvest in Lake Michigan,” at the Lake Michigan Yellow Perch Summit hosted by the Lake Michigan Committee of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission. The summit took place at the UIC forum in Chicago and consisted of talks about the status of the Lake Michigan ecosystem and perch fishery by researchers and managers for members of the public (in-person and streamed live online), followed by discussion among all participants (stakeholders, researchers, and managers).

  • Lice and bacteria, partners in parasitism

    Apr 14, 2017 8:00 am

    Illinois Natural History Survey scientist Kevin P. Johnson and former INHS post-doc Bret Boyd participated in a study that sought to better understand the evolutionary history of bacteria residing within lice.

  • Digitization efforts make wealth of INHS collections more accessible

    Apr 26, 2017 8:00 am

    INHS is home to over 9 million biological specimens, including plants, insects, fish, reptiles, and fossils. Learn how we're digitizing these specimens to make them accessible to everyone.

  • INHS Scientist Mark J. Wetzel appointed Associate Editor of Megadrilogica

    May 2, 2007 8:00 am
  • Loren Merrill

    Bird gets worm, makes history

    Jun 19, 2017 8:45 am

    Illinois Natural History Survey postdoctoral researcher Loren Merrill describes how he observed the unusual behavior of a pied-billed grebe from his balcony, leading to an insight published in the Wilson Journal of Ornithology.

  • Matthew Niemiller

    Researchers sample a DC swamp to study a spineless creature

    Jun 19, 2017 9:45 am

    INHS ecologist Matthew Niemiller led a recent study that used an environmental DNA approach to search for Hay’s Spring amphipod in its Rock Creek Park home. “It’s not a cute, cuddly or charismatic species. But we’re still learning more and more about groundwater ecosystems. And there is evidence that these crustaceans are important indicators of groundwater quality, and may play important roles in water purification and nutrient cycling over time.”

  • Attack of the Flying Fish

    Jun 24, 2010 2:00 pm

    The Illinois Times talks to Kevin Irons, INHS LTRMP Fish Specialist, about sampling for Asian carp. Irons catalogs some of the things that he does to make sampling on the Illinois River safe.

  • female cowbird and male cowbird perched on wire fence

    Cowbirds change their eggs’ sex ratio based on breeding time

    Jun 24, 2020 9:15 am

    Brown-headed cowbirds show a bias in the sex ratio of their offspring depending on the time of the breeding season, researchers report in a new study. More female than male offspring hatch early in the breeding season in May, and more male hatchlings emerge in July.

  • Fossil Insect Collaborative kicks off

    Jul 9, 2013 8:00 am

    INHS Entomologist Sam Heads is part of a collaborative effort to digitize fossil insect collections across the country. The Fossil Insect Collaborative is a joint venture between the Virginia Museum of Natural History (VMNH), the American Museum of Natural History, the Yale Peabody Museum, the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard, the University of Colorado, the University of Illinois, and the University of Kansas. The project officially kicked off the 1st of July, 2013.

  • Some wildlife greatly affected by drought

    Aug 8, 2012 8:00 am

    Hot, dry temperatures have been a devastating problem for some species. INHS Avian Ecologist Jeff Hoover was interviewed for an article about the impact of this year's drought on songbirds. According to Hoover, caterpillar populations have been impacted by the drought, which means less food for the nestlings and more time spent foraging by adults. Their monitoring has shown a failure of 37% of nests this year, compared to 22% in 2010.

  • leopard resting in a tree

    Study finds Serengeti leopard population densities vary seasonally

    Aug 31, 2020 8:30 am

    A study of camera-trap data from Serengeti National Park in Tanzania found that leopard population densities in the 3.7-million-acre park are similar to those in other protected areas but vary between wet and dry seasons. The fluctuations appear to be driven by the abundance of prey and how this affects interactions with other large carnivores like lions.

  • gray squirrel

    The squirrel experiment

    Sep 21, 2023 9:45 am

  • Soybean Aphids setting up for potential comeback

    Oct 25, 2011 8:00 am

    INHS Entomologist David Voegtlin sampled soybean aphids this fall and found levels that could lead to higher densities of aphids on crops in 2012. In 2009, fall densities were extremely high and fungal infection wiped out large numbers of the aphids. This fall's lower humidity and lower density of aphids could lead to greater survival of overwintering aphids.

  • Making history on the mighty Mississippi

    Nov 5, 2006 4:30 pm

  • Bullfrogs insensitive to road salt

    Nov 6, 2013 8:00 am

    INHS post doctoral researcher Tanya Hawley Matlaga, INHS Herpetologist Chris Phillips, and INHS Ecotoxicologist David Soucek report that bullfrogs are less sensitive to elevated chloride concentrations than some other amphibian species. The study was designed to mimic the level of salt found in roadside ponds following de-icing events. The study found that bullfrog tadpoles did not experience reduced survival, growth, or ability to evade predation in elevated chloride concentrations, and thus, their populations are not expected to be impacted by road salt. While this is good news for bullfrogs, it's an additional stress for other species inhabiting ponds with these voracious predators.

  • A new species of Drypetes described

    Nov 26, 2013 8:00 am

    In a recent paper in Phytokeys, INHS Botanist Dr. Geoffrey Levin described a new species of Drypetes from Costa Rica. This new species of flowering tree produces asymmetrical drupes (fleshy fruits), leading to its name Drypetes asymmetricarpa.

  • Lice evolve faster than their primate hosts

    Jan 8, 2014 8:00 am

    INHS Psocodea expert Kevin Johnson and post doctoral researcher Julie Allen led a recently published study comparing the rate of evolution in primates with that in their louse parasites. This study is the first to look at the pace of molecular change across the genomes of different groups. Read LA Times article.

  • assassin bug fossil

    50 million-year-old fossil assassin bug has unusually well-preserved genitalia

    Jan 19, 2021 10:45 am

    The fossilized insect is tiny and its genital capsule, called a pygophore, is roughly the length of a grain of rice. It is remarkable, scientists say, because the bug’s physical characteristics – from the bold banding pattern on its legs to the internal features of its genitalia – are clearly visible and well-preserved. Recovered from the Green River Formation in present-day Colorado, the fossil represents a new genus and species of predatory insects known as assassin bugs.

  • The Biology of Small Mammals published

    Mar 4, 2010 5:30 pm

    Dr. Joseph F. Merritt, INHS Mammalogist, is the author of The Biology of Small Mammals, published by the Johns Hopkins University Press. The book covers  small mammals, which are defined as weighing 11 pounds and under. The book, 336 pages long, also includes black and white photographs and illustrations. It can be ordered from amazon.com.

  • INHS botanists reconstruct 226 year history of fire in Southern Illinois

    Mar 14, 2011 4:45 pm

    By looking at the scars in the growth rings of 36 old-growth post oak trees, INHS botanist Greg Spyreas, affiliate John Ebinger and Illinois State Museum botanist William McClain found that there had been more than 100 fires in Southern Illinois between the 1770s and 1996. This repeated burning stabilized prairies and kept the woodlands open until the mid-1800s when fires appear to have been suppressed by the settlers in the area for a 30 year period. Fire suppression altered the plant community by allowing fast-growing, shade-loving species to survive. The study was published in the journal Castanea. Read news coverage of the story by the Science Blog, Science Codex, and Earth Times.

  • US Army Corps releases report on Asian carp and electric barriers

    Mar 29, 2011 8:00 am

    The US Army Corps of Engineers released a report on the operation of the electric barrier system in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. This study focuses on the smaller individuals, which may be better able to cross the barriers. Prior research by Illinois Natural History Survey scientists about the efficacy of the electric barrier systems for adult fish is cited.

  • Local pros' scientific 'show and tell' wows Yankee Ridge students

    Apr 13, 2012 8:00 am

    INHS Biologist Samantha Carpenter participated in Yankee Ridge Elementary School's Junior Scientist Day, teaching students about Illinois Mammals. This was the 10th annual Junior Scientist Day, with scientists from University of Illinois, Illinois State Archaeological Survey, INHS and other local groups sharing their knowledge and enthusiasm with the students.

  • INHS team discovers new invasive clam species

    May 1, 2017 8:00 am

    They found it in the Illinois River near the city of Marseilles, Illinois, about 80 miles west of Lake Michigan—a strange entry point for an invasive Asian clam. The scientists who found it have no idea how it got there. But the discovery—along with genetic tests that confirm its uniqueness—means that a new species or “form” of invasive clam has made its official debut in North America. This is only the latest invasive aquatic species to settle in North America, said Illinois Natural History Survey aquatic ecologist Jeremy Tiemann, who discovered the new clam with INHS mussel field biologist Sarah Douglass in late 2015.

  • INHS scientists teach students about conservation

    May 12, 2011 9:00 am

    Moultrie County 4th graders learned about Conservation at the Moultrie County 4-H Fairgrounds, with the help of INHS scientists. Tara Beveroth taught about birds and research techniques, Jean Mengelkoch taught about bats and endangered species, while Jen Mui and Patty Dickerson brought the Traveling Science Center with its display about Biodiversity and Exotic Invasive Species.

  • people walk through a field of grass

    Searching for Turtles in a Sea of Grass

    May 17, 2018 2:45 pm

    Members of the INHS Population and Community Ecology Lab surveyed two of the largest known Ornate Box Turtle sites with the goal of finding, measuring, and marking as many turtles as possible.

  • non-native cattail

    Aggressive, non-native wetland plants squelch species richness more than dominant natives do

    Jun 19, 2019 9:15 am
  • Eastern massasauga rattlesnake

    For now, Illinois’ imperiled eastern massasauga rattlesnakes retain their genetic diversity

    Aug 13, 2018 9:15 am

    Habitat loss, habitat fragmentation and the loss of genetic diversity are the three main factors driving the extinction of many wild species, and the few eastern massasauga rattlesnakes remaining in Illinois have certainly suffered two of the three. A long-term study of these snakes reveals, however, that – despite their alarming decline in numbers – they have retained a surprising amount of genetic diversity.

  • Negative image aside, Asian carp are a boon

    Aug 18, 2011 8:00 am

    Although there is widespread concern about the spread of Asian Carp, for some people, they represent a new industry and economic boon. Asian Carp harvest has increased thirtyfold in the past ten years. In 2010, a fisheries company in Thomson IL sold 20 million pounds of Asian carp to consumers globally. According to Greg Sass, director of the INHS Illinois River Biological Station, that while Asian Carp represent 80% of fish in parts of the Illinois River, scientific research has not yet established a direct connection between the presence of Asian Carp and the decline of native species.

  • It's mussel time!

    Aug 30, 2018 8:30 am

  • Cowbirds aren't just deadbeat parents

    Sep 10, 2015 8:00 am

    A new study from INHS graduate student Matthew Louder, and INHS Ornithologists Wendy Schelsky, Jeff Hoover, and Amber Albores found that female cowbirds monitor nest success of their offspring and will lay their eggs in the most successful host nests. This, combined with previous work by Jeff Hoover and colleagues, shows that female cowbirds aren't just abandoning their eggs in a host nest. Nests that fledged cowbirds were much more likely to be parasitized by cowbirds again than those that failed to fledge cowbirds.

  • male and female cowbird on a fence

    Illinois study finds surprising level of monogamy among cowbirds

    Oct 2, 2019 9:00 am
  • bird banding

    A marvelous morning of migratory bird banding

    Oct 25, 2022 11:45 am

    In a look Behind the Scenes, avian ecologist Tara Beveroth, other INHS staff, and students band birds at the Phillips Tract natural area. Data that they gather will be sent to the federal Bird Banding Laboratory, which collects, archives, and disseminates information for avian research. 

  • Rare salamander sparks excitement in INHS herpetologists

    Nov 9, 2012 8:00 am

    INHS Herpetologist Chris Phillips was interviewed for a recent installment of Environmental Almanac. Phillips was contacted by a photographer who captured an image of an elusive, fully aquatic amphibian known as a siren, being eaten by a Great Blue Heron in Vermilion County. Sirens are known from southern Illinois but have never been detected by the extensive INHS herpetological surveys of Vermilion County over the past 20 years. Phillips said, "It goes to show you there are still some surprises out there for a herpetologist in the Midwest."

  • Man holding two large fungi

    North American checklist identifies the fungus among us

    Nov 28, 2018 9:15 am

    A new checklist of North American fungi published this month in the journal Mycologia “provides the basis for understanding our national mycoflora,” according to mycologist Andrew Miller, who led the effort to compile the data.

  • INHS macro-invertebratologist Steve Taylor illuminates the unique world of caves

    Dec 2, 2010 2:45 pm

    INHS Macro-Invertebrate Scientist and cave maggot namesake, Steve Taylor was featured in an article from the Illinois News Bureau. Read about his "more than two decades plumbing the mysteries of cave life," in articles by the U of I News Bureau and Physorg.com.

  • INHS to host 100th Annual Meeting of the Illinois Academy of Science

    Dec 5, 2007 8:00 am

    INHS will host the 100th Annual Meeting of the Illinois State Academy of Science to be held on April 4-5, 2008. Academy members are invited to submit abstract abstracts of papers and posters for presentation in any of the recognized ISAS divisions. For more information on the event and submissions, please visit this website.

  • two yellow prothonotary warblers perched on a branch

    Warmer springs mean more offspring for prothonotary warblers

    Dec 9, 2020 8:30 am

    Climate change contributes to gradually warming Aprils in southern Illinois, and at least one migratory bird species, the prothonotary warbler, is taking advantage of the heat. A new study analyzing 20 years of data found that the warblers start their egg-laying in southern Illinois significantly earlier in warmer springs. This increases the chances that the birds can raise two broods of offspring during the nesting season, researchers found.

  • Native birds as biological controllers of Emerald Ash Borer Beetles?

    Dec 20, 2013 8:00 am

    INHS Ornithologist Chris Whelan is a co-author on a recent publication reporting that woodpeckers may be helpful in controlling Emerald Ash Borer Beetles. Their study found that bark foraging birds, such as woodpeckers, foraged more heavily on ash trees and preferred ash trees with visible canopy decline over healthy trees. "Predation by bark-foragers significantly reduced tree-level EAB densities by upwards of 85%." The authors conclude that enhancing habitat for woodpeckers and other bark foragers may help control infestations and create more resilient forests.

  • Buckeye butterfly

    Become a citizen scientist for pollinators with University of Illinois

    Mar 6, 2019 4:45 pm

    University of Illinois Extension is calling all lovers of bees, butterflies, and other pollinators that keep our crops and gardens growing to join scientists in tracking their distribution and habitat use across the state, from the comfort of your home, school, or community garden.

  • Illinois Natural Areas Inventory discovers new natural areas

    Mar 14, 2011 2:30 pm

    Illinois Natural History Survey scientists have spent the past three years evaluating thousands of sites across Illinois to assess their quality. Biologists have discovered approximately 185 more of these "beautiful little gems," as Randy Nyboer calls them, which were missed during the original inventory in 1978. The Inventory is used by the Nature Preserves Commission to determine protection and management of our remaining natural areas.

  • Casting a net for conservation

    Mar 22, 2017 8:00 am

    Go Behind the Scenes with graduate research assistant Benjamin Williams as he catches ducks and records data along the Wabash River.