City Nature Challenge 2026 Recap: Insects

My anticipation for the annual City Nature Challenge usually begins with great anxiety around the weather, and ends with nice surprises and unexpected species. This year was no different. I have the luxury of time, and knowledge, to make the most of the event regardless.

A male fire-colored beetle, Neopyrochroa femoralis, at our backyard blacklight, Leavenworth, Kansas.

A week prior, the forecast was looking like a nearly complete washout, with high chances of rain, if not storms. It turned out that the few inclement periods happened mostly in the overnight hours. It was still windy, or at least gusty, most of the time, with some hide-and-seek sun, too.

Eastern Tailed-blue butterfly in Havens Park, Leavenworth, Kansas.

More angst surrounded the changes we experienced at some of the parks we frequent. Our local “wild” park, Havens Park in Leavenworth, Kansas, USA, is installing a frisbee golf course, and has cleared patches of forest in the process. Meanwhile, in Wyandotte County Lake Park to the southwest, we noticed substantially clearing of vegetation around one of our favorite sites, a backwater pond. If they were going after invasive honeysuckle, great, but it appeared that it was that particular plant that was rebounding after the cutting and scraping.

The male Orange Spur Fly, Teuchocnemis bacuntius, waving hello. Havens Park, Leavenworth, Kansas.

Despite the setbacks, I managed to find some interesting insects. Chief among them was a unique syrphid fly, the Orange Spur Fly, Teuchocnemis bacuntius, that I spied at the edge of the forest near the front of Havens Park. This is a fairly large fly, named for the spur on the hind tibia of the male. Little is known about its life history, and mine is the only Kansas record for both iNaturalist and Bugguide, online.

A male Goatweed Leafwing, defending territory in Havens Park, Leavenworth, Kansas.

A male Harvester on the lookout for passing females. Havens Park, Leavenworth, Kansas.

We have had a warm, early spring, and many species had come and gone by the time the City Nature Challenge began. It was difficult to find some butterflies, for example, that peaked earlier in April. I still managed to spot two that I was hoping for: The Goatweed Leafwing, and the Harvester.

Hayhurst's Scallopwing skipper, Havens Park, Leavenworth, Kansas.

Duskywing skippers were so faded and tattered that identification was nearly impossible, but I was delighted to see a perfect specimen of a Hayhurst’s Scallopwing.

A male Common Baskettail dragonfly, Havens Park, Leavenworth, Kansas.

A male Springtime Darner dragonfly, Wyandotte County Lake Park, Kansas.

A male Blue Corporal dragonfly, Wyandotte County Lake Park, Kansas.

Other charismatic “bugs” included dragonflies, and I was fortunate to see a few of them perch. Common Baskettail is typical for this time period, as is the Springtime Darner, and Blue Corporal. Variegated Meadowhawk can be seen almost year round.

Six-spotted Tiger Beetle on a trail in Wyandotte County Lake Park, Kansas.

Beetles were out both day and night. Six-spotted Tiger Beetle is always a delight, and hard to miss with its bright green color. We even found a pair of mating Spring Treetop Flasher fireflies, over at Weston Bend State Park in Missouri.

Spring Treetop Flasher fireflies at Weston Bend State Park, Missouri.

Also at Weston Bend, I noticed what I thought at first was a bumble bee or carpenter bee, but it was flying a little slower, and silently. It was an American Carrion Beetle! I managed to knock it down, and brought it home for a photo shoot, before releasing it in our yard (I had one in our yard a couple years ago).

Studio portrait of American Carrion Beetle from Weston Bend State Park, Missouri.

Among the new species we recorded for our home property was a checkered beetle on the side of our house: Madoniella dislocata. It preys on small wood-boring beetles, so maybe it flew over from the logs and brush pile in the back yard.

Checkered beetle, Madoniella dislocata, at our Leavenworth, Kansas home.

I did blacklighting twice. The first night in the front yard, where we have a big old Pin Oak tree, was probably too cold and clear, and barely anything flew in.

This Isabella Tiger Moth, adult of the familiar "woollybear" caterpillar, was one of the few insects to come to our front yard blacklight on April 24, in Leavenworth, Kansas.

The next night, in the back yard, was the much more successful, the weather being warmer.

Faint-spotted Palthis moth, Palthis asopialis, at the backyard blacklight, Leavenworth, Kansas.

A Two-spotted Diaperis beetle, Diaperis maculata, at the backyard blacklight, Leavenworth, Kansas.

The nocturnal insect crowd included many kinds of beetles, flies, true bugs, moths, and wasps. The diversity was greater than the quantity of any one taxon. That will change soon, as caddisflies and rove beetles assert their dominance later, often overwhelming the sheet.

A stink bug, genus Banasa, at the backyard blacklight, Leavenworth, Kansas.

The largest moth visitor we had at the backyard blacklight was this American Dagger, Acronicta americana.

Bees were not as abundant as I was expecting, but several species had mostly come and gone already, especially cellophane bees (aka “polyester bees,” genus Colletes). The early mason bees, genus Osmia, were mostly finished, too.

A mason bee, genus Osmia, investigates some damp soil as potential material for her nest. Havens Park, Leavenworth, Kansas.

Kleptoparasitic bees, namely Nomada and Sphecodes, were still evident. They make their living in the larval stage feeding in the nests of other solitary bees.

A "blood bee," genus Sphecodes, from Havens Park, Leavenworth, Kansas.

Wasp diversity was quite high, too. I saw a couple of mating pairs of mason wasps, and there were at least four genera that I observed.

Mating mason wasps, Euodynerus foraminatus, male on top, in Havens Park, Leavenworth, Kansas.

One of the most interesting wasps found me. I noticed it on the sleeve of my shirt, took a picture, and then captured it for a controlled photoshoot at home. I thought it was a large eupelmid (family Eupelmidae), but in seeking further help with identification via a Facebook group, I learned it was something else entirely.

The Cleonymus magnificus wasp, maybe five millimeters, from Sportsfield Park in Leavenworth, Kansas.

Meet Cleonymus magnificus. Until recently, it was placed in the family Pteromalidae. It is now in its own family, the Cleonymidae. I will eventually write a blog post about this insect specifically, so stay tuned.

Please see my other blog, Sense of Misplaced, for a companion post that treats the birds, mammals, and other non-insect wildlife that I was fortunate enough to see during the City Nature Challenge. I promise there are some cuties in there.

A small but attractive longhorned beetle, genus Callidium, that I captured in Havens Park, Leavenworth, Kansas.

All of my observations for the 2026 City Nature Challenge can be found at this iNaturalist link. Feel free to share a link to your own observations in the comments. I would love to see what you discovered!