Category Archives: Arthropoda

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

Cicindela limbata – epilogue

Posted on December 9, 2008 by Ted C. MacRae

In my Lucky 13 post, I featured Cicindela limbata (sandy tiger beetle) from north of Grand Island, near the easternmost edge of the Nebraska Sandhills. This species is restricted to dry sand blow out and dune habitats away from water, … Continue reading →

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

“My favorite bettle”

Posted on December 6, 2008 by Ted C. MacRae

Today’s essay is by guest blogger (and perhaps future entomologist), Madison MacRae. Currently a 3rd grade student at Pond Elementary School, Madison’s interests include ice skating, tetherball, basketball, piano, dancing, singing, and hiking/bug collecting with her dad. Next year they … Continue reading →

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

“Dungers and Chafers – a Trip to South Africa”

Posted on December 3, 2008 by Ted C. MacRae

Those of you who enjoy field trip accounts should check out the December 2008 issue of SCARABS. The lead article – authored by your’s truly – is a scarabcentric travelogue of an insect collecting trip I took to South Africa … Continue reading →

Posted in Buprestidae, Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Two new species of Agrilus from Mexico

Posted on November 28, 2008 by Ted C. MacRae

The enormous, cosmopolitan genus Agrilus (family Buprestidae – commonly called jewel beetles or metallic woodboring beetles) contains nearly 4,000 described species (Bellamy 2008). With many more still awaiting description, it is perhaps the largest genus in the entire animal kingdom … Continue reading →

Posted in Buprestidae, Coleoptera, Viscaceae | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

A new species of Xenorhipus from Baja California

Posted on November 17, 2008 by Ted C. MacRae

A few months ago I discussed Trichinorhipis knulli of the tribe Xenorhipidini (family Buprestidae). Members of this tribe exhibit highly sexually dimorphic antennae, with the distal segments of the male antennae highly modified into a very extended flabellate or lamellate … Continue reading →

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

Magnificently Monstrous Muscomorphs

Posted on November 11, 2008 by Ted C. MacRae

I suppose tiger beetles have gotten more than their fair share of attention here lately, so for this post I thought I’d highlight insects of a completely different group – flies! Admittedly, as a coleopterist, I tend to view flies … Continue reading →

Posted in Asilidae, Bombyliidae, Diptera, Mydidae | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Cicindela scutellaris lecontei x scutellaris unicolor intergrades in southeast Missouri

Posted on November 3, 2008 by Ted C. MacRae

Cicindela scutellaris (festive tiger beetle) is widely distributed in the U.S., having been recorded from most areas east of the Rocky Mountains except Appalachia, the lower Mississippi River delta, and south Florida. Within this range, the species occupies deep, dry … Continue reading →

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

Happy Halloween!

Posted on October 30, 2008 by Ted C. MacRae

Argiope aurantia Those who think scientific names are too complicated have the following dizzying array of common names to choose from for this species: black and yellow garden spider; black and yellow argiope; yellow garden spider, yellow garden argiope; yellow … Continue reading →

Posted in Arachnida, Araneae | Tagged , , , , , , | 22 Comments