We conducted an inventory of select terrestrial insect groups at Braidwood Dunes and Savanna Nature Preserve in 2011 and 2012. A total of 823 unique species, representing 19 orders of Hexapods, were recorded using a variety of sampling methods (including: light trapping, pitfall trapping, sweep net, vacuum sample, litter sample, soil core, wine rope, visual transect). Intensive studies focused on springtails (Collembola), grasshoppers, crickets and katydids (Orthoptera), true bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera), leafhoppers and kin (Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha), ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) and butterflies and macromoths (Lepidoptera). We estimate that our records comprise around 11% of the total fauna of Hexapoda that occur at this 315--‐acre site. We evaluated sampling completeness for each group and compared, richness, diversity and evenness across habitat types. Special attention was focused on midwestern remnant dependent species, conservative prairie and savanna insects of the Chicago Wilderness region, and species that appear on Illinois' list of species in greatest need of conservation. We provide the Forest Preserve District of Will County with management recommendations relating to the terrestrial for this site, as well as a large collection of images covering many of the species we encountered. Braidwood Dunes and Savanna Nature Preserve contains a variety of rare and understudied species, some of which have only infrequently been encountered. These animals play a Cover photo: Papaipema speciosissima (Noctuidae), the Osmunda Borer Moth 3 wide variety of roles within the ecosystem and various habitats, and warrant special consideration and appreciation not only by land managers but also by the members of the public with an interest in the natural world.unpublishednot peer reviewe
