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.

Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge

Posted on July 28, 2009 by Ted C. MacRae

I’ve written quite a few posts about my June trip to northwestern Oklahoma. Four days at the ruggedly scenic Four Canyon Preserve and nearby Packsaddle Wildlife Management Area yielded a few interesting jewel beetles (though not many tiger beetles), but … Continue reading →

Posted in Cicindelidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Oklahoma is for lovers

Posted on July 24, 2009 by Ted C. MacRae

A few rather risqué photos from my June trip to northwestern Oklahoma. Photo details: Eleodes suturalis: Canon 100mm macro lens on Canon EOS 50D, ISO 100, 1/250 sec, f/13, MT-24EX flash 1/4 power through diffuser caps. Chrysobothris ignicollis: Canon 65mm … Continue reading →

Posted in Buprestidae, Cicindelidae, Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 24 Comments

Dromochorus pruinina in Oklahoma

Posted on July 21, 2009 by Ted C. MacRae

As my colleague Chris Brown and I continue to study the tiger beetle fauna of Missouri, one of the species we have become very interested in is Dromochorus pruinina (frosted dromo tiger beetle).  This is another of North America’s more … Continue reading →

Posted in Cicindelidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Typocerus deceptus in Missouri

Posted on July 17, 2009 by Ted C. MacRae

It has been fifteen years now since I published an annotated checklist of the longhorned beetles (families Cerambycidae and Disteniidae) of Missouri (MacRae 1994).  That publication (and a similar one on Buprestidae) was the product of eight years of collecting … Continue reading →

Posted in Cerambycidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

North America’s most bizarre lizard

Posted on July 14, 2009 by Ted C. MacRae

Hmm, something funny going on here.  This is a bug blog – specifically a beetle blog, yet it’s a post about a lizard that generates a flurry of comments.  I don’t know if lightning will strike twice so quickly, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Reptilia | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 32 Comments

North America’s most beautiful lizard

Posted on July 10, 2009 by Ted C. MacRae

Whew! My fingers and keyboard are still smoking after that long series on Cylindera celeripes (parts 1, 2, and 3). Exciting as my celeripes finds were, there were other “tiger beetle moments” from the Oklahoma trip as well that I … Continue reading →

Posted in Reptilia | Tagged , , , , , , , | 43 Comments

Revisiting the Swift Tiger Beetle – Part 3

Posted on July 7, 2009 by Ted C. MacRae

…continued from Revisiting the Swift Tiger Beetle – Part 2. The Oklahoma trip had been an unqualified success. Not only had I managed to find the rare Cylindera celeripes (swift tiger beetle) at Alabaster Caverns, I had also determined the … Continue reading →

Posted in Cicindelidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 18 Comments

Revisiting the Swift Tiger Beetle – Part 2

Posted on July 3, 2009 by Ted C. MacRae

…continued from Revisiting the Swift Tiger Beetle – Part 1. The rain that cut short my visit to Alabaster Caverns in northwestern Oklahoma followed me as I drove east towards Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in northeastern Oklahoma. I had called Mike … Continue reading →

Posted in Cicindelidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments