Category Archives: Arthropoda

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

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

A “Giant” Pygmy

Posted on July 4, 2011 by Ted C. MacRae

Not long ago, I got an email from grasshopper expert David J. Ferguson confirming my identification of Pardalophora phoenicoptera (and also encouraging my recent fascination with band-winged grasshoppers (family Acrididae, subfamily Oedepodinae) and their marvelously cryptic nymphs).  He suggested that I might … Continue reading →

Posted in Orthoptera, Tetrigidae | Tagged , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

T.G.I.Flyday – Andrenosoma fulvicaudum

Posted on July 1, 2011 by Ted C. MacRae

First, about the name. T.G.I.Flyday is my contribution to a collusional triad between dipterist Morgan Jackson, myrmecologist Alex Wild, and myself (uhm, beetles).  Although Alex blogs primarily about ants, he has long featured a “Friday Beetle Blogging” series.  I’ve also … Continue reading →

Posted in Asilidae, Diptera | Tagged , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Sugarcane Weevil in Brazil

Posted on June 30, 2011 by Ted C. MacRae

Brazil is one of the world’s top producers of sugarcane, and they have the Middle East to thank for it.  While the U.S. was responding to the 1973 OPEC oil embargo by building bigger and bigger SUVs, Brazil aggressively developed … Continue reading →

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

Tracking Tetraopes texanus with Terry

Posted on June 27, 2011 by Ted C. MacRae

Last month I traveled to Starkville, Mississippi to meet with an academic cooperator at Mississippi State University.  While arranging the trip, I contacted Terry Schiefer (no, not the fashion jewelry designer, but curator at the Mississippi Entomological Museum) to let him know … Continue reading →

Posted in Cerambycidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments