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.

Araneus marmoreus encore

Posted on November 23, 2012 by Ted C. MacRae

Here is the full-sized photo from which the crop shown in Super Crop Challenge #14 was taken. The small finger-like structure in the upper right of the photo—the object of the challenge—is the epigyne (or epigynum) of Araneus marmoreus (marbled orb weaver spider). Spiders … Continue reading →

Posted in Arachnida, Araneae | Tagged , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Super Crop Challenge #14

Posted on November 21, 2012 by Ted C. MacRae

Wow, has it really been five months since the last Super Crop Challenge?! Well, it’s time to start a new BitB Challenge Session (this will be #7), so what better way to start? Can you name the structure shown in the … Continue reading →

Posted in [No taxon] | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Posted on November 19, 2012 by Ted C. MacRae

Last week I attended the Entomological Society of America (ESA) meetings in Knoxville, Tennessee. It was my first ESA attendance in more than ten years, so I took full advantage of the opportunity by speaking at the insect macrophotography symposium, … Continue reading →

Posted in Pinaceae | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

It’s a Mayfly…It’s a Moth…It’s Thyridopteryx

Posted on November 16, 2012 by Ted C. MacRae

One of the nice things about the study of insects is the endless opportunity for discovery. It could be a new species, or it might just be something already known but not yet seen personally. I’ve been collecting insects most of … Continue reading →

Posted in Lepidoptera, Psychidae | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Approaching the unapproachable

Posted on November 14, 2012 by Ted C. MacRae

Yesterday I gave a talk at the Entomological Society of America’s Insect Macrophotography Symposium, focusing on techniques that I use for photographing wary insects in the field. Turnout for the symposium was awesome (I estimate ~125 people in attendance), and as … Continue reading →

Posted in [No taxon] | Tagged , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Persistence Pays

Posted on November 12, 2012 by Ted C. MacRae

For the past three years I’ve crisscrossed the country in search of some of North America’s rarest tiger beetles, each time hoping to get that “perfect” photograph of an unconfined beetle exhibiting natural behavior in its native habitat. I’ve managed … Continue reading →

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

Black olives with legs

Posted on November 10, 2012 by Ted C. MacRae

While searching the open red-cedar woodland at Oklahoma’s Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge back in September, I rather regularly encountered these darkling beetles (family Tenebrionidae) that I recognized as the species Eleodes tricostata. I really wanted to photograph the first several that … Continue reading →

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

Hand-held caddisflies

Posted on November 8, 2012 by Ted C. MacRae

I recently found a folder in my files with a number of photos taken way back in April during a visit to Sam A. Baker State Park in the Ozark Highlands of southeastern Missouri. I never got around to posting them … Continue reading →

Posted in Philopotamidae, Trichoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments