Category Archives: Arthropoda

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

Cicindela denverensis – green claybank tiger beetle

Posted on December 24, 2010 by Ted C. MacRae

Here are a few more photographs of the insect featured in ID Challenge #1, which is, in fact, Cicindela denverensis (green claybank tiger beetle).  Nearly every commentor got the first 6 points easy enough (2 pts each for order, family, and genus), but … Continue reading →

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

Pseudoxycheila tarsalis – remounted

Posted on December 21, 2010 by Ted C. MacRae

I tend to be a minimalist when it comes to mounting beetles. That is, I mount them so that they take up minimal space – legs tucked neatly and symmetrically against each side of the body and antennae laid straight … Continue reading →

Posted in Cicindelidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , | 34 Comments

ESA in absentia

Posted on December 17, 2010 by Ted C. MacRae

The Entomological Society of America (ESA) held its 58th Annual Meeting earlier this week in San Diego, California. For those of you who were unable to attend, I’ve included a link to a poster that I and coauthors Chris Brown … Continue reading →

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

A First Class Box of Beetles

Posted on December 16, 2010 by Ted C. MacRae

Warning: post contains lots of hardcore, beetle-collector geekery! A few weeks ago I got an email from fellow buprestophile Henry Hespenheide (Professor Emeritus, UCLA) asking if I needed any specimens of Agrilus coxalis auroguttatus – recently dubbed the “goldspotted oak borer” after it was discovered damaging … Continue reading →

Posted in Buprestidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 31 Comments

Cleaning Tiger Beetles

Posted on December 14, 2010 by Ted C. MacRae

This is Cicindela scutellaris (festive tiger beetle), one of the six species of tiger beetles that we found last September at Monroe Canyon in the Pine Ridge area of northwestern Nebraska.  The red elytra and green head and pronotum are characteristic of … Continue reading →

Posted in Cicindelidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , | 22 Comments

Monroe Canyon – A Tiger Beetle “Hot Spot”

Posted on December 8, 2010 by Ted C. MacRae

The vast landscape surrounding the Nebraska Pine Ridge boasts two entirely different natural communities – the High Plains shortgrass prairie atop the ridge stretching endlessly to the south, and the eerie, desolate Badlands on the north side of the ridge extending … Continue reading →

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

Answer to Super Crop Challenge #2

Posted on December 5, 2010 by Ted C. MacRae

I was hoping that Super Crop Challenge #2 would prove a little more difficult than the first one, but first responder Troy Bartlett quickly sniffed out the correct answer – the top part of the abdomen of the marmorated orb weaver, … Continue reading →

Posted in Arachnida, Araneae | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

Tiny little slivers of life

Posted on December 3, 2010 by Ted C. MacRae

Day 1 of the 2010 Fall Tiger Beetle Trip™ had been an unqualified success.  Not only did we achieve our top goal of the trip – seeing good numbers of the recently discovered South Dakota population of Cicindela pulchra (beautiful tiger beetle), … Continue reading →

Posted in Lepidoptera, Scythrididae | Tagged , , , , , , | 13 Comments