Category Archives: Coleoptera

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

Orange and black on gold

Posted on October 9, 2014 by Ted C. MacRae

The spectacular amorpha borer, Megacyllene decora, was not the only black-and-gold colored beetle that I saw on the flowers of goldenrod (Solidago sp.) a few weeks ago. In addition were several delta flower scarabs, Trigonopeltastes delta. This species is much … Continue reading →

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

Amorpha borer on goldenrod

Posted on October 5, 2014 by Ted C. MacRae

One of my favorite longhorned beetle species is the amorpha borer, Megacyllene decora. Like its close relative, the locust borer—M. robiniae, this large, beautiful, black and yellow beetle is a classic harbinger of fall by virtue of its late-season adult activity period and affinity … Continue reading →

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

2014 Great Plains Collecting Trip iReport

Posted on October 2, 2014 by Ted C. MacRae

During the past year or so I’ve followed up my longer (one week or more) insect collecting trips with a synoptic “iReport”—so named because they are illustrated exclusively with iPhone photographs. It may come as a surprise to some, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Aves, Buprestidae, Cactaceae, Cerambycidae, Coleoptera, Dinosauria, Mammalia, Reptilia, Salicaceae | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Sunset beetles

Posted on September 30, 2014 by Ted C. MacRae

Regular readers of this blog know that I am fond of natural sky backgrounds for insects found during the day on flowers and foliage. Not only does the sky provide a clean, uncluttered background that allows the subject to stand … Continue reading →

Posted in Buprestidae, Cleridae, Coleoptera, Meloidae | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The lesser of two jewels

Posted on September 18, 2014 by Ted C. MacRae

A couple of months ago I wrote a post about Chrysobothris orono, a magnificent jewel beetle that I had the opportunity to see earlier in the year. Fellow buprestophile Joshua Basham and his colleague Nadeer Youssef had managed to find this very … Continue reading →

Posted in Buprestidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

One-shot Wednesday: swamp milkweed leaf beetle

Posted on September 3, 2014 by Ted C. MacRae

Technically this photograph of Labidomera clivicollis (swamp milkweed leaf beetle) doesn’t qualify as a “one-shot”, as I did take a few other shots as well. However, this was the only shot out of the handful that I didn’t throw away. It’s not … Continue reading →

Posted in Chrysomelidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Stag and “stagette” beetle

Posted on August 17, 2014 by Ted C. MacRae

Last month I posted some photos of the very “stag beetle-ish” looking longhorned beetle, Parandra polita. Chestnut brown in color with large, forward projecting mandibles, this member of the longhorned beetle subfamily Parandrinae looks almost nothing like longhorned beetles in other subfamilies but very … Continue reading →

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

The Buprestis tree

Posted on August 10, 2014 by Ted C. MacRae

After collecting Chrysobothris seminole at the type locality in Georgia and Chrysobothris orono the following day at South Cumberland State Park in Tennessee, I thought my trip last May with fellow buprestophiles Josh Basham and Nadeer Youseff was a complete success. I had … Continue reading →

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