Author Archives: Ted C. MacRae

About Ted C. MacRae

Ted C. MacRae is a research entomologist by vocation and beetle taxonomist by avocation. Areas of expertise in the latter include worldwide jewel beetles (Buprestidae) and North American longhorned beetles (Cerambycidae). More recent work has focused on North American tiger beetles (Cicindelidae) and their distribution, ecology, and conservation.

Ceti Eel offspring?

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

If this creature was a tad bit slimier, you might think it had just been plucked from underneath the armor of an adult Ceti Eel and was looking to slip inside the ear of Chekov or some other human to wrap … Continue reading →

Posted in Coleoptera, Silphidae | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

My favorite of Missouri’s milkweeds

Posted on April 6, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

Milkweeds of the genus Asclepias are among my favorite plants, although I’m not fully sure why that is the case. Sure, their blooms are conspicuous and colorful, but so are those of many other plants. Perhaps one reason is their status … Continue reading →

Posted in Asclepiadaceae, Plantae | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Bollworms rising!

Posted on March 30, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

One of the most pernicious pests that U.S. farmers have battled is the larval stage of Helicoverpa zea (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). This insect is destructive enough to have earned not just one official common name, but four (corn earworm, cotton bollworm, soybean podworm, … Continue reading →

Posted in Lepidoptera, Noctuidae | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

The true Ombú

Posted on March 26, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

Recall ID Challenge #21, which featured a photograph of the massively buttressed trunk of a rubber tree (Ficus elastica) planted more than 200 years ago in Buenos Aires, Argentina and give the name Gran Gomero (meaning “big rubber”). There are many … Continue reading →

Posted in Phytolaccaceae, Plantae | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

The 213-year old “Gran Gomero”

Posted on March 24, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

Here are two more views of the tree featured in ID Challenge #21. This is El “Gran Gomero,” a planted rubber tree (Ficus elastica) located in the upscale Recoleta district of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Whenever locals give a name to an individual … Continue reading →

Posted in Moraceae | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

ID Challenge #21

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

Time for another installment of BitB Challenge Session #7. This one is going to be a bit different from previous versions—can you identify the tree in the photo? Not the scientific name, not the common name, but the actual name of this particular tree. … Continue reading →

Posted in [No taxon] | Tagged , , , , | 73 Comments

These bugs rock!

Posted on March 20, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

These stones were given to me recently by a local insect enthusiast who is an admitted collector of all things natural history. According to him, the stones were among numerous items that he was allowed to “salvage” many decades earlier from … Continue reading →

Posted in [No taxon] | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

The “little soybean weevil”

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

Lepidopteran caterpillars are without question the most important pests affecting soybean in South America, while stink bugs run a close second in terms of economic impact and as the targets of insecticide applications. There are, however, a number of weevil … Continue reading →

Posted in Coleoptera, Curculionidae | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments