Tag Archives: beetles

Planet’s Coolest Critters – Tiger Beetles

Posted on July 28, 2012 by Ted C. MacRae

Readers of this blog know well (and hopefully share) my affection for tiger beetles (family Cicindelidae). That should come as no surprise, as tiger beetles rank among the most popular of all beetle groups. The reasons for this are many—for … Continue reading →

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

Working with Cerceris fumipennis—Epilogue

Posted on July 26, 2012 by Ted C. MacRae

In Working with Cerceris fumipennis Part 1 and Part 2, I talked about the use of this species as a biosurveillance tool for Buprestidae. These wasps are specialist predators of jewel beetles, which they capture almost exclusively and paralyze with … Continue reading →

Posted in Chrysomelidae, Coleoptera, Crabronidae, Hymenoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Palmetto Tortoise Beetle, Hemisphaerota cyanea

Posted on July 21, 2012 by Ted C. MacRae

While most leaf beetles (family Chrysomelidae) are found associated with herbaceous plant species, many members of the subfamily Hispinae—which includes leaf mining beetles and tortoise beetles—are found on the foliage of woody plants. In North America the most distinctive of tortoise … Continue reading →

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

Working with Cerceris fumipennis—Part 2

Posted on July 15, 2012 by Ted C. MacRae

During the 6-week period from late May to early July this year, I collected ~400 jewel beetle specimens representing at least 20 species (see Working with Cerceris fumipennis—Part 1). A final accounting of the species represented won’t be done until this winter, but the … Continue reading →

Posted in Buprestidae, Cicindelidae, Coleoptera, Crabronidae, Hymenoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Working with Cerceris fumipennis—Part 1

Posted on July 13, 2012 by Ted C. MacRae

For nearly 30 years, jewel beetles (family Buprestidae) have been my primary research interest. While some species in this family have long been regarded as forest and landscape pests, my interest in the group has a more biosystematic focus. A faunal … Continue reading →

Posted in Buprestidae, Coleoptera, Crabronidae, Hymenoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

The importance of background and apparent light size

Posted on July 7, 2012 by Ted C. MacRae

I’m still getting submissions for ID Challenge #19 and don’t quite have the followup post ready yet, so I’ll give it a couple more days. In the meantime, I’d like to re-share the photo below, originally shown a few weeks ago … Continue reading →

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

ID Challenge #19

Posted on July 4, 2012 by Ted C. MacRae

Here is a bit of a different ID Challenge—can you identify the beetles represented in the photo, but more importantly can you deduce what all of these beetles have in common (other than the fact that they belong to the same family)? Obviously … Continue reading →

Posted in Buprestidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 33 Comments

Beetle botanists

Posted on June 14, 2012 by Ted C. MacRae

While Dicerca pugionata (family Buprestidae) is, for me, the most exciting beetle species that I’ve found in Missouri associated with ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius). it is not the only one. The beetles in these photographs represent Calligrapha spiraeae, the ninebark leaf beetle (family Chrysomelidae). Unlike … Continue reading →

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