Category Archives: Insecta

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

Hook-faced Conehead – Pyrgocorypha uncinata

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Ted C. MacRae

I had high hopes as I setup the blacklights in the pine/oak-hickory forest at Jordan Recreation Area on Lake Norfork in north-central Arkansas. The late June timing  and warm, humid conditions with no moon were perfect for wood boring beetles, and as dusk … Continue reading →

Posted in Orthoptera, Tettigoniidae | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

T.G.I.Flyday – Triorla interrupta

Posted on July 22, 2011 by Ted C. MacRae

While I was visiting the glades near Calico Rock, Arkansas this past June, I went into town to look along the White River.  With the amount of sandstone bedrock in the area, I thought there I might find sandy loam deposits … Continue reading →

Posted in Asilidae, Diptera | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Lined Jewel Beetle

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Ted C. MacRae

Here is another of the several wood-boring beetle species that I encountered during my June trips to the sandstone glade complex near Calico Rock in north-central Arkansas.  Shortleaf pines (Pinus echinata), the only native pine in this region, are common on … Continue reading →

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

More on ‘Conspicuous Crypsis’

Posted on July 18, 2011 by Ted C. MacRae

In my previous post (Oedipodine Rex), I used the term ‘conspicuous crypsis’ to describe the sumptuously beautiful lichen grasshopper, Trimerotropis saxatilis, as an example of an insect that, despite strikingly conspicuous colors/patterns, blends in perfectly with its native surroundings. I don’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Cerambycidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Oedipodine Rex

Posted on July 15, 2011 by Ted C. MacRae

Ever since my current fascination with band-winged grasshoppers (family Acrididae, subfamily Oedipodinae) began, I have been obsessed with photographing one species above all others—Trimerotropis saxatilis, the lichen grasshopper. Like most species in the group, lichen grasshoppers utilize an interesting survival strategy that … Continue reading →

Posted in Acrididae, Orthoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 25 Comments

Vinerunt, futuerunt, ierunt

Posted on July 13, 2011 by jtrager

Very rough translation: They loved us, then left us. (the cicadas, that is.)¹  ¹ Guest blogger’s subtext — Maybe if I dazzle the readers with a title in the colorful language of Pompeiian graffiti, they’ll forgive me for not posting … Continue reading →

Posted in Cicadidae, Hemiptera | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Diminishing Stag Beetle

Posted on July 9, 2011 by Ted C. MacRae

This past June I made a couple of trips to north-central Arkansas. They were my first real efforts to collect insects in Arkansas, despite hundreds (literally) of trips to various localities throughout the Ozark Highlands in adjacent southern Missouri. The … Continue reading →

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

Four-humped Longhorned Beetle

Posted on July 7, 2011 by Ted C. MacRae

On a recent collecting trip, I went over to Chalk Bluffs Natural Area in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain of northeastern Arkansas.  My quarry was a population of Cylindera cursitans (ant-like tiger beetle) that has been reported from the site—one of the only … Continue reading →

Posted in Cerambycidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments