Monthly Archives: July 2013

The perfectly polyphagous Chrysobothris purpureovittata

Posted on July 30, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

Many species of jewels beetles in North America are known for having some degree of host specificity. This is especially true of species in the genus Chrysobothris, whose members are often restricted to a particular family, genus, or even species of … Continue reading →

Posted in Buprestidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Relaxed comment moderation policy

Posted on July 26, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

During the first few years of writing this blog, I maintained an open comment policy with few restrictions on who could comment. In November 2011, however, I began experiencing a flood of spam comments, and as a result I had … Continue reading →

Posted in [No taxon] | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

The ever-increasing diversity of Oklahoma beetles

Posted on July 23, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

My idea to return to Oklahoma’s Gloss Mountains this spring actually began taking shape during last year’s fall visit to the area, when I found a single Chrysobothris octocola adult on a dead mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) branch. While common across the southwestern … Continue reading →

Posted in Buprestidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Registration is now open for my ESA Webinar

Posted on July 19, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

Just released from ESA (Entomological Society of America): Approaching the Unapproachable: Tips and Tricks for Field Photography of Wary Insects presented by Ted MacRae.  Learn valuable field photography techniques from Ted MacRae, Senior Research Entomologist at Monsanto Company.  Ted specializes in photographing … Continue reading →

Posted in [No taxon] | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Where do BitB readers come from (and why I like Facebook better than Twitter and Google+)?

Posted on July 17, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

I’m not obsessed with blog stats, but every now and then it’s interesting to take a look and see what information I can glean from them. One of the stats provided by WordPress is “Referrers”—which sites readers came from. This … Continue reading →

Posted in [No taxon] | Tagged , , , , , | 14 Comments

“Rare jewel beetles discovered in Mexico by team of scientists!”

Posted on July 13, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

I hope you’ll excuse the hyperbolic title, but such has been my impression with some of the headlines I’ve seen recently in the popular media regarding newly described insect taxa in various parts of the world. The “discovery” of new species … Continue reading →

Posted in Buprestidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Observation and Bias in Biology

Posted on July 5, 2013 by biologistsoup

The following is a guest post by my friend Kent Fothergill. Read more of Kent’s musings at his blog, biologistsoup. Observation is a key activity in scientific inquiry. People who work with insects can make many interesting observations from collected insects: … Continue reading →

Posted in Cerambycidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , | 11 Comments

“Blue-sky” tips and tricks

Posted on July 1, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

For the past two years I’ve been working to refine my “blue-sky” technique for insect macrophotographs. This refers to careful balancing of camera and flash settings to achieve full-flash illumination of the subject while still allowing enough ambient illumination from the sky … Continue reading →

Posted in Chrysopidae, Neuroptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments