Category Archives: Insecta

Insects – Collembola, Protura, Diplura, Archaeognatha, Thysanura & Pterygota (winged insects).

Review of North American Chalcophora

Posted on January 8, 2014 by Ted C. MacRae

The latest issue of The Coleopterists Bulletin arrived in my mailbox recently, and among the several papers of interest to me is a review of the North American species of the jewel beetle genus Chalcophora¹ (family Buprestidae). This genus contains some … Continue reading →

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

Best of BitB 2013

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

Welcome to the 6th Annual “Best of BitB”, where I pick my favorite photographs from the past year. Like last year, 2013 was another year of heavy travel. For work I did my annual tour of soybean field sites throughout Argentina … Continue reading →

Posted in Buprestidae, Cerambycidae, Chrysopidae, Cicindelidae, Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, Meloidae, Neuroptera, Noctuidae, Reduviidae, Siricidae | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Hairy milkweed beetle

Posted on December 27, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

Across the Great Plains of North America, sand dune fields dot the landscape along rivers flowing east out of the Rocky Mountains. Formed by repeated periods of drought and the action of prevailing south/southwest winds on alluvium exposed by uplifting … Continue reading →

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

A polypipin’ we will go!

Posted on December 19, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

A polypipin’ we will go, a polypipin’ we will go Heigh ho, the dairy-o, a polypipin’ we will go A polypipin’ we will go, a polypipin’ we will go We’ll catch a tiger beetle and put him in a vial And then we’ll let … Continue reading →

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

ID Correction: Megaloxantha bicolor palawanica

Posted on December 13, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

In a few previous posts (here and here), I used a particularly large jewel beetle specimen as a subject to test several different flash diffusers I was working on. I chose that particular specimen because of its large size (necessitating … Continue reading →

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

Why did it take 30 years to collect these beetles?

Posted on December 10, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

This is the best known of the American species of Poecilonota, and the one most commonly collected east of the Rocky Mountain.—Evans (1957) I’ve been interested in insects since I was a kid, but I didn’t really become a dedicated … Continue reading →

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

Stalking tigers in Argentina

Posted on December 5, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

Most of you know that I have spent a lot of time in Argentina over the years, and while most of my time there has been for work I have had a fair bit of opportunity to collect insects as … Continue reading →

Posted in Cicindelidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Party on a pin oak

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

In September 2012 while collecting in western Oklahoma (Weatherford) I came across this interesting scene. It had been exceedingly dry in the area, and because of this few insects were out and about in the small city park that I … Continue reading →

Posted in Coleoptera, Diptera, Formicidae, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, Mutillidae, Nymphalidae, Sarcophagidae, Scarabaeidae | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments