Category Archives: Arthropoda

Arthropods – insects, arachnids, crustaceans, myriapods, & relatives

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

A belated Happy Birthday

Posted on December 2, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

It seems that November 24th came and went without me even realizing that BitB turned six years old that day! Six years—wow, has it really been that long? I guess forgetting birthdays officially puts me in the old-timer camp (both … Continue reading →

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

Pedantic Sunday: Blister beetles don’t suck

Posted on December 1, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

The beetle featured in today’s photo is the blister beetle (family Meloidae), Nemognatha cribraria cribraria. The genus Nemognatha and its relatives in the subfamily Nemognathinae are distinctive due to the greatly elongated adult mouthparts that are modified for feeding on flowers. Specifically, parts … Continue reading →

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