[No taxon]

No specific plants or animals are discussed in posts within this category.

BitB’s Newest Contributor – Chris Brown

/ Ted C. MacRae / 12 Comments

To regular readers of this blog, the name Chris Brown should be familiar. As a frequent companion on many of my field trips over the past decade, I’ve had numerous opportunities to mention his name in the posts that I’ve written about those trips. Chris, however, is not just a field companion—he is also an Entomologist (capital “E”) in his own right. Like me, he makes a living in the field of agricultural biotechnology, his particular focus being risk assessment of genetically modified crops. Also like me, he has a passionate avocational interest in insect biosystematics and conservation, and together we share our obsession with tiger beetles as co-investigators in the Missouri tiger beetle project. Unlike me, Chris also has fluent command of the avian fauna, giving him some additional ecological insights that I lack. In addition, whatever modest ability I’ve demonstrated as an insect macrophotographer over the past few years has been due in large part to the encouragement and advise of Chris, who was already an adept insect macrophotographer long before I became interested in adding a camera pack to my field outfit. Chris’ influence on me has already had an impact on BitB, and it is with great pleasure that I announce Chris will now have additional impact as its newest contributing author.

Photographing Cicindela pulchra in South Dakota.

I first met Chris when he came to my lab as a summer intern more than a decade ago (not long after I myself had taken my position here). It didn’t take long before Chris’ interest in joining me on my field exploits became apparent, and I was happy to have his company. During those early trips, I was immediately impressed not only by his skill as a photographer, but also his interest in understanding broader ecological context (too many young collectors want to know only the bug’s name and where they can find it). The Missouri tiger beetle project was in its earliest stages at that time—I thought his photographic capabilities would compliment my field experience in surveying for these insects and invited him to join me in the effort. In the years since, we have traveled together to all corners of Missouri, made two trips to the neighboring Great Plains, and explored the length of the Rio Grande River from Boca Chica to Big Bend. Chris’ travels, with me and separately, give him unique perspective and breadth of knowledge, and as much as he may claim to have learned from me during our joint travels, I have learned from him equally as much. Perhaps the most valuable lesson learned is to use photography as a means not to capture just images of insects, but moments in their natural history—features not easily appreciated when looking at preserved insect specimens in a cabinet. Please join me in welcoming Chris to BitB, and look for his first post to appear in the next day or so—I think you will find it a delightful read.

Chris surveys the loess hills landscape in northwestern Missouri

Copyright © Ted C. MacRae 2012

2,171 pieces of chitin…

/ Ted C. MacRae / 12 Comments

Specimen boxes ready to ship out.

There are many reasons to look forward to the Holiday Season—time with family and friends, a break from the normal routine, the chance to engage in favorite activities leisure and otherwise, or maybe just kick back and not do much of anything. Okay, that last one is so not me—I really have a hard time sitting around and doing nothing no matter how tired I am. It makes me antsy. What did I do on my Holiday Break (a nice generous chunk of time starting the day before Christmas Eve and ending the day after New Years)? I spent lots of time with my family immediate and extended. I had quality time with a few close friends (including a 10-mile hike on the Ozark Trail with my friend Rich). I rode my bike. Lots! (315 miles precisely.) And (here comes the best part), I identified beetles. Lots! When I wasn’t riding or hiking or making merry, I was in my man cave with football on Tivo, beetles under the scope, and primary taxonomic literature sprawled all over the place. Maybe not the average Joe’s idea of a relaxing break, but it works for me.

Truth be told, I actually depend on the period between Thanksgiving and New Years Day to kick-start my winter curatorial season. As an entomologist with taxonomic leanings living in a temperate region, there is a seasonality to my activities. Summer is field season, and no matter what good intentions I may have for accomplishing other things, the constant siren call of the field makes this all but impossible. Reprints pile up. Boxes of specimens received for identification or exchange accumulate in the various nooks and crannies of the room. All the while I’m out collecting even more beetles! By the time fall arrives I’m well inundated and looking forward to the onset of winter so I can actually accomplish something other than growing the backlog.

It’s a new year, and with my plate now cleared of beetles needing identification, the specimens—all 2,171  of them—can be returned to their rightful owners. I’ve said it to each of them individually, but it bears repeating here that I truly appreciate the opportunity they give me to look at their material. Their specimens fuel my research with new data, allow me to gradually increase species representation in my collection, and occasionally even bring to light undescribed species. Without this network of collaborators, from full professors to citizen scientists, the Holidays for me would be just a bit too boring.

Copyright © Ted C. MacRae 2012

Super Crop Challenge #10

/ Ted C. MacRae / 22 Comments

It’s gotten a little quiet around here lately, and since we haven’t done a Super Crop Challenge for awhile let’s see if this latest version will liven things back up. This challenge strays a bit from my normal scope, so I’m not sure how difficult or easy it will prove to be. I’ll award 2 pts for all correctly stated primary rank taxa (what a mouthful!)—standard challenge rules apply, including moderated comments to give everyone a chance to submit their answers.  Bonus points will be awarded to early birds if multiple participants arrive at the same correct answer, and possibly also for other relevant comments (at my discretion). Good luck!

Copyright © Ted C. MacRae 2011

A day of milestones and thanks!

/ Ted C. MacRae / 37 Comments

Today we celebrate the American holiday of Thanksgiving—a day for stepping back from our trivial concerns, giving thanks for those who enrich our lives, and showing renewed compassion for those less fortunate. Coincidentally, I celebrate today as well two milestones here at ‘Beetles in the Bush’—its 4th anniversary and its 500th post! It seems appropriate that this should occur on a day of thanks, as I owe a deep debt of gratitude to the readers of this blog for keeping me motivated through your comments and words of support. Four years and 500 posts is by no means a record—there are plenty of bloggers who have been around longer (and some who generate 500 posts in a single year!). Nevertheless, I’m starting to feel a bit like an “old-timer” in this relatively young pursuit with no thoughts of stopping anytime soon. I suppose I’m in it for the long haul.

To mark today’s milestones, I offer here a collage of thumbnails (click here to see full post)—each using an image from and linked to one of BitB’s previous 499 posts (with apologies to those of you who access this blog through dial-up). In the few cases where a post had no image I have used the generic Agelia petalii buprestid image that is this blog’s icon. If nothing else, the collage represents an interesting visual distillation of BitB in its entirety, but I hope you’ll take the opportunity to browse through the images and perhaps find some interesting posts that you may have missed the first time around. Thumbnails are arranged in order of post chronology (first to last)—hold the cursor over a thumbnail to see the post title, and click on the thumbnail to go to that post. Due to the huge number of hyperlinks in this post (uhm… 499 to be exact!), you might encounter one that does not link properly—I hope you’ll let me know if you encounter any such so that I may fix them.

Now also seems like a good time to solicit feedback on the direction of this blog—what you like about it and what you don’t. This is not pining for compliments, but a call for objective, constructive feedback. Maybe you’re not fond of certain subjects or have suggestions for topics you’d like to see more of. What about the balance between technical and enthusiast? Too wordy or jargony, or not academic enough? More quizzes or less (and should they be harder or easier)? If you prefer not to give this feedback in public, send me an email. BitB will never be all things to all people, but for those who do find something of interest here I’d like to do my best to provide content that is fun to read and appealing to look at.

Once again, thank you for your readership and have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Copyright © Ted C. MacRae 2011
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“Puente de la Mujer”

/ Ted C. MacRae / 4 Comments

One of my favorite sites in the heart of Buenos Aires, I’ve never actually seen Puente de la Mujer (“Womans Bridge”) lit up at night until this trip.  A short distance to the north lies Rio de la Plata and La Reserva Ecológica Costanera Sur (“South Coast Ecological Reserve), where I spent the majority of the day this past Sunday.  Yes, more photographs of “bichos Argentinos” forthcoming.

Copyright © Ted C. MacRae 2011

ID Challenge #14

/ Ted C. MacRae / 38 Comments

I’ll be leaving soon for another trip to Argentina.  While the process of traveling to the Land of Gauchos (and back) is exhausting, I adore Argentina and look forward to my visits there with great anticipation.  In celebration of my pending return, I’m starting off a new BitB Challenge Session (#5) with a traditional ID challenge—for 2 pts each can you identify the order (a gimme), family, genus, and species of the critter in the photo below?  Say something about the situation for the possibility of bonus points.  Standard challenge rules apply, including moderated comments during the challenge period (you don’t have to be first to score points), early-bird points to those who do arrive at the correct answer before others, etc.

Copyright © Ted C. MacRae 2011

New comment policy

/ Ted C. MacRae / 20 Comments

In the nearly three years since moving ‘Beetles in the Bush’ to WordPress, I’ve enjoyed an almost spam-free existence.  Rarely did I ever get more than just a few spam comments per day, and whatever spam I did get was flagged with nearly 100% accuracy by WordPress’ Akismet spam filter.  So minor was the issue that I’ve been able to leave comment settings for the blog at their least restrictive—anonymous comments allowed with no comment moderation.  Spam comments were held for review, while legitimate comments were published immediately.  It was a simple matter to review the few spam comments that accumulated each day, confirm that they were indeed spam, then send them on to cyberoblivion.  Occasionally a legitimate comment or two would also get flagged as spam (primarily for including more than one hyperlink in the comment—a common feature of spam comments), but I would find these during review and approve accordingly.

Until now, that is.  Last month I had a post selected for WordPress’ ‘Freshly Pressed’ feature.  It’s kind of a big deal to be featured on Freshly Pressed, as exposure to the whole WordPress community typically results in a surge of traffic.  The surge is short-lived but commonly nets at least a few new readers, some of whom may become regulars.  It’s the fourth time I’ve had a post selected for Freshly Pressed; however, unlike the previous three times, this time saw also a concordant sudden surge in spam comments.  While the traffic has returned to more normal levels, unfortunately the spam comments have not—in the month since being Freshly Pressed I’ve been flooded with nearly 7,000 spam comments.  That’s about 230 per day compared to only a handful of legitimate comments.  I have neither the time nor the inclination to review several hundred spam comments every day just so I can rescue the occasional legitimate comment.

WordPress Support has no explanation for the surge in spam (I recall they made some reference to “the price of fame”).  So, and I really hate to do this, I’m implementing some moderate restrictions on who can leave comments.  I’m trying to do this, at least initially, in a way that legitimate commentors will notice hardly or not at all.  You’ll have the least inconvenience if you are logged into your WordPress, Twitter, or Facebook account and already have an approved comment somewhere on this blog.  For you nothing changes—you leave a comment and it is published immediately.  If you are logged into one of these accounts but have not yet left a comment here, your first comment will be held for moderation.  Once I approve it you get a free pass through approval from that point on and will see any future comments published immediately.  If you are not logged into one of these accounts, you can either login using the buttons on the comment form, or alternatively you can complete the fields for your name, email address, and website. Only the website field is optional; your name and email address will be required information (but please note that your email will not be shown publicly!).  Again, if you already have an approved comment on the site your comment will be published immediately, otherwise it will be held in moderation until I approve it (which then gives you a free pass for any future comments).  Sadly, anonymous comments are no longer allowed.

I hope these restrictions don’t cause undue inconvenience, and I would be most grateful for your feedback if you find that these restrictions have affected your willingness to leave comments.

Copyright © Ted C. MacRae 2011