Oklahoma lawmakers advance bills adding four insect designations and wheat as an official state symbol

Committee votes move two proposals forward in the 2026 session

Oklahoma lawmakers are considering expanding the state’s official symbols list through two Senate measures that advanced in committee on Feb. 16, 2026. The proposals would add four new insect-related designations and name wheat as the state’s official crop.

The measures cleared the Senate Agriculture and Wildlife Committee with unanimous votes, sending the bills to the next stages of the legislative process. If approved by both chambers and signed into law, each would take effect Nov. 1, 2026.

Senate Bill 2065: four new insect designations tied to pollination and conservation

Senate Bill 2065 would create four state symbol categories focused on insects and their roles in agriculture and ecosystems. The measure proposes the following designations:

• European honeybee (Apis mellifera) as the state agricultural pollinator
• American bumblebee (Bombus pensylvanicus) as the state native insect
• Carolina mantis (Stagmomantis carolina) as the state predator insect
• Rainbow scarab (Phanaeus vindex) as the state soil conservation insect

The bill’s author, Sen. David Bullard, R-Durant, told the committee he pursued the proposal after being contacted by a 15-year-old Oklahoma 4-H state ambassador, Lucile Morehouse of Boswell in Choctaw County. Morehouse described her work distributing seed packets through a project she launched with her mother after learning about pollinator declines.

Morehouse told lawmakers she wanted the designations to increase attention on pollinators and other beneficial insects that support food production, ecosystems and agriculture.

The bill text specifies the scientific names for each insect and directs that the designations be added to Oklahoma Statutes under Title 25, which contains many of the state’s existing symbols.

Senate Bill 2159: wheat proposed as Oklahoma’s official crop

A separate measure, Senate Bill 2159 by Sen. Roland Pederson, R-Burlington, would designate wheat as the official crop of Oklahoma. Pederson told the committee wheat is grown broadly across the state and described it as versatile.

The bill’s language is brief, creating a new statutory section designating wheat as the official crop and setting the same Nov. 1, 2026, effective date.

How the proposals fit into Oklahoma’s long list of state symbols

Oklahoma already recognizes numerous official symbols spanning geology, wildlife, plants and other categories. Recent additions include a state legume, and the existing list also includes well-known designations such as the American bison as the state animal. The two bills now move forward for consideration by the full Legislature, where their prospects will depend on votes in both chambers and final action by the governor.