Beetle-mania Strikes Again in Lincoln Square, as June Bugs Swarm Welles Park in Mating Frenzy

WTTW / by Patty Wetli / July 14, 2026

Ball players are catching more than pop flies at Welles Park.

“Bag-a-bug” traps have been placed along a temporary outfield fence at the Lincoln Square park on Chicago’s North Side, where swarms of beetles are zipping around just above the grass in search of a mate.

“They’re sweeping the area to figure out where the female is,” Chris Dietrich, Illinois’ state entomologist, said of the male beetles’ herky-jerky flight patterns. View More Here.