Category Archives: Coleoptera

Beetles. The largest order of animals with more than 300,000 species in about 2000 genera.

A Silver Anniversary

Posted on June 24, 2009 by Ted C. MacRae

Twenty-five years ago tomorrow, I discovered my first new species.  I didn’t know it at the time – in fact, it would be several years later before the budding, young entomologist that I was would finally conclude that the large, spectacularly beautiful, cerambycid beetle … Continue reading →

Posted in Cerambycidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Four Canyon Preserve, Oklahoma

Posted on June 22, 2009 by Ted C. MacRae

On my recent week-long collecting trip, the first three days were spent at Four Canyon Preserve in far northwestern Oklahoma.  This nearly 4,000-acre preserve features a stunning landscape of rugged, wooded canyons dissecting ridges of mixed-grass prairie which provide critical habitat for … Continue reading →

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

The “obscure” Dicerca

Posted on June 19, 2009 by Ted C. MacRae

During my recent trip to northwestern Oklahoma, we visited Packsaddle Wildlife Management Area, a 17,000-acre chunk of land containing mixed-grass prairie, shinnery oak (Quercus havardii) shrublands, and mesic woodlands along the South Canadian River.  In one of these woodlands, I encountered a … Continue reading →

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

Treatise of Western Hemisphere “Cicindelitae”

Posted on June 17, 2009 by Ted C. MacRae

Tiger beetles have long enjoyed a popularity that is disproportionate to their diversity, abundance, and economic importance relative to other groups of beetles. This seems as much due to their charismatic behavior – toothy jawed predators in extreme habitats – … Continue reading →

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

Beetle News: a new, online publication

Posted on June 15, 2009 by Ted C. MacRae

One of my favorite of entomology publications has always been the newsletter. Regardless of the specialty group to which they cater, newsletters usually share one, common feature – fun, easy-to-read articles about insects, techniques, collecting trips, etc., written in a … Continue reading →

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Third time’s a charm!

Posted on June 10, 2009 by Ted C. MacRae

This post may seem like déjà vu to some of you, as it is my third featuring our common woodland tiger beetle species, Cicindela sexguttata (six-spotted tiger beetle). However, this post is as much a photography lesson as it is … Continue reading →

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

Brachys on oak

Posted on June 8, 2009 by Ted C. MacRae

Although the beetles I photographed for my springtime Acmaeodera post are among the smaller buprestids occurring in Missouri, they are by no means the smallest. That honor belongs to the curious little genus Mastogenius, measuring only around 2 mm in … Continue reading →

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

Goldenrod Leaf Miner

Posted on June 3, 2009 by Ted C. MacRae

While photographing Acmaeodera tubulus and A. ornata a couple of weekends ago (see Springtime Acmaeodera), I came across this leaf beetle (family Chrysomelidae) of the genus Microrhopala¹.  When I took Systematic Entomology (so many moons ago), beetles in this and … Continue reading →

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