Category Archives: Arthropoda

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

Tuesday Tarantula

Posted on March 9, 2010 by Ted C. MacRae

One of my destinations on my annual fall tiger beetle collecting trip last October was The Glass Mountains in northwestern Oklahoma. Rising from the red Permian beds of the central Great Plains, the Glass Mountains are a series of mesas … Continue reading →

Posted in Arachnida, Araneae | Tagged , , , , , , , | 32 Comments

Acmaeodera carlota in northern Arizona

Posted on March 5, 2010 by Ted C. MacRae

This is another of the interesting species that I encountered during my examination of material submitted for identification this past winter.  Acmaeodera carlota is one of 149 species/subspecies in North America belonging to this very difficult genus (recall my recent … Continue reading →

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

A Tiger Beetle Aggregation

Posted on March 1, 2010 by Ted C. MacRae

Not long ago, I received an interesting series of photographs from Joe Warfel, a nature photographer and macro specialist based in Massachussetts.  Joe traveled to Arizona last July, where he photographed an aggregation of Cicindela (Cicindelidia) sedecimpuntata (Western Red-bellied Tiger … Continue reading →

Posted in Cicindelidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Euhagena nebraskae in Kansas

Posted on February 25, 2010 by Ted C. MacRae

One of my favorite destinations for insect collecting is the Gypsum Hills region in Barber County of south-central Kansas.  I first went there in May 1986 after seeing a diverse selection of more typically Texan Buprestidae that J. Richard Heitzman, an … Continue reading →

Posted in Lepidoptera, Sesiidae | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Monday Ménage – Brachyleptura rubrica

Posted on February 22, 2010 by Ted C. MacRae

This mating pair of longhorned beetles represents Brachyleptura rubrica, one of several so-called “flower longhorns” (including the rare Typocerus deceptus) that I saw on flowers of Hydrangea arborescens last June at Trail of Tears State Park in southeastern Missouri.  Flower … Continue reading →

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

Alkali Tiger Beetle

Posted on February 17, 2010 by Ted C. MacRae

I haven’t written much about my early October trip to Oklahoma, where I had hoped to confirm a hunch that the gorgeous Cicindela pulchra (Beautiful Tiger Beetle) would be found in the red clay/gypsum hill habitats of Woodward and Major … Continue reading →

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

Who am I?

Posted on February 16, 2010 by Ted C. MacRae

What is my name? Where do I live? Who do I hang with? Copyright © Ted C. MacRae 2010 Email to a friend

Posted in Cicindelidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Aaack!-maeodera

Posted on February 11, 2010 by Ted C. MacRae

Warning: post contains hardcore, taxonomic, sciencey geekiness! Just as there is seasonality in the lives of insects, there is seasonality in the work of those who study them.  For the collector/taxonomist, everything revolves around the collecting season — time spent on … Continue reading →

Posted in Buprestidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 27 Comments