Category Archives: Insecta

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

Life at 8X: MPMI Cover

Posted on December 5, 2012 by Ted C. MacRae

The January 2013 issue of Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions (volume 26, number 1) is now online. Why do I mention this? You may recall the cover photos of the soybean aphid, Aphis glycines, from my post Life at 8X—soybean aphid—one of a series of … Continue reading →

Posted in Aphididae, Hemiptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

One Bad Beetle

Posted on December 4, 2012 by Ted C. MacRae

Almost every tiger beetle trip that I take has a mix of gimmes and stretch goals. That’s alright—it’s impossible to find everything every time out, and if I eschewed the common and was happy only when I found something truly … Continue reading →

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

Another autumn oedipodine

Posted on November 30, 2012 by Ted C. MacRae

In September 2010, Chris Brown and I explored shortgrass/sage brushland habitat atop the Laramie Mountains in southeastern Wyoming’s Medicine Bow National Forest (location “J” on this map). We were entering the final days of our 7th Annual Fall Tiger Beetle … Continue reading →

Posted in Acrididae, Orthoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Where siblings mingle: Ellipsoptera marginata vs. E. hamata

Posted on November 25, 2012 by Ted C. MacRae

When Erwin & Pearson (2008) formally broke up the great genus Cicindela by elevating most of its former subgenera to full genus rank, it caused a bit of consternation amongst some North American cicindelophiles. The argument went something like, “Now we have all these … Continue reading →

Posted in Cicindelidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

It’s a Mayfly…It’s a Moth…It’s Thyridopteryx

Posted on November 16, 2012 by Ted C. MacRae

One of the nice things about the study of insects is the endless opportunity for discovery. It could be a new species, or it might just be something already known but not yet seen personally. I’ve been collecting insects most of … Continue reading →

Posted in Lepidoptera, Psychidae | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Persistence Pays

Posted on November 12, 2012 by Ted C. MacRae

For the past three years I’ve crisscrossed the country in search of some of North America’s rarest tiger beetles, each time hoping to get that “perfect” photograph of an unconfined beetle exhibiting natural behavior in its native habitat. I’ve managed … Continue reading →

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

Black olives with legs

Posted on November 10, 2012 by Ted C. MacRae

While searching the open red-cedar woodland at Oklahoma’s Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge back in September, I rather regularly encountered these darkling beetles (family Tenebrionidae) that I recognized as the species Eleodes tricostata. I really wanted to photograph the first several that … Continue reading →

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

Hand-held caddisflies

Posted on November 8, 2012 by Ted C. MacRae

I recently found a folder in my files with a number of photos taken way back in April during a visit to Sam A. Baker State Park in the Ozark Highlands of southeastern Missouri. I never got around to posting them … Continue reading →

Posted in Philopotamidae, Trichoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments