Category Archives: Cerambycidae

Longhorned beetles, roundheaded woodboring beetles. About 24,000 species worldwide. Predominantly borers in trunks and branches of dead and dying woody plants. A few species attack living trees and are regarded as economic pests.

Great Basin Collecting Trip iReport

Posted on September 17, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

During the last week of August, I teamed up with fellow longhorned beetle enthusiast Jeff Huether to look for species in the genus Crossidius. This exclusively North American genus contains a number of colorful species in the tribe Trachyderini that are associated … Continue reading →

Posted in Asteraceae, Cerambycidae, Coleoptera, Reptilia, Vertebrata | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Arizona collectors: Have you seen this beetle?

Posted on September 15, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

If you are a collector of beetles in Arizona, you should be on the lookout for longhorned beetles (family Cerambycidae) resembling the specimen in the above photos. Determined as Placoschema dimorpha Chemsak & Hovore, in Eya 2010 by Jeff Huether, the specimen … Continue reading →

Posted in Cerambycidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The one that got away!

Posted on August 16, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

It was disappointing to reach Black Mesa, the furthest west destination for my June collecting trip through northwestern Oklahoma, only to discover that the whole region was dry as a bone. I spent an hour or so sweeping yellow roadside … Continue reading →

Posted in Cerambycidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Tips for photographing shiny beetles on yellow flowers

Posted on August 10, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

I really hate starting off this post with the following photo—typically it is the first photo in a post that readers see in syndicated feeds; however, I use it in this post to make a point. This photo was taken … Continue reading →

Posted in Cerambycidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 15 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

Plionoma suturalis in Oklahoma—a new state record!

Posted on June 23, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

When I returned from my vacation/insect collecting trip to western Oklahoma two weeks ago, most people upon learning where I went responded with a funny look that said, “Why would you want to go to Oklahoma?” Even entomologists familiar with … Continue reading →

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

Flatfaced longhorn: Leptostylus transversus

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

The longhorned beetle subfamily Lamiinae is one of the few subfamilies in the beetle world to have its own common name—flatfaced longhorns. This photo of one of its members, Leptostylus transversus, doesn’t show the character very well, but as with all … Continue reading →

Posted in Cerambycidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Oklahoma Collecting Trip iReport

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

I’m back home after my week-long collecting trip to western Oklahoma, and at the risk of sounding hyperbolous I can only describe it as one of the most successful collecting trips I’ve ever had. Seriously! These kinds of trips don’t happen all that often … Continue reading →

Posted in Acrididae, Aves, Cactaceae, Cerambycidae, Coleoptera, Orthoptera, Reptilia, Vertebrata | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments