Tag Archives: beetles

A Living Jewel – Madecassia rothschildi

In North America, beetles in the family Buprestidae are commonly referred to as “metallic woodboring beetles.” This may be a perfectly adequate name—accurate and descriptive, but it’s also a bit dry and not terribly imaginative. Personally, I much prefer the moniker given to these beetles by … Continue reading

Posted in Buprestidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Another cover photo

Issue 43(4) of Cicindela (A quarterly journal devoted to Cicindelidae) is now hitting mailboxes (my copy arrived earlier this week), and for the second issue in a row the cover features one of my tiger beetle photos. Gracing the cover this time is … Continue reading

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

“My peripatetic quest for North America’s rarest tiger beetles”

This week I gave a presentation on my latest Annual Fall Tiger Beetle Trip to the Entomology Group of the Webster Groves Nature Study Society. With the exception of a brief 5 year period in the early 1990s while I lived in … Continue reading

Posted in [No taxon] | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Return to Calico Rock

Although western sand dune endemics were the top goals on my cicindelophilic wish list during last fall’s Annual Tiger Beetle Trip, I started the trip by leaving St. Louis in the most unlikeliest of directions—south! No, I wasn’t trying to get to Denver … Continue reading

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

A Modest Model for Mimicry

Spring is still a long way off but it’s times like these that I draw on past experiences so I can continue to be thrilled by insect natural history even during the coldest of months.  In this case I am thinking … Continue reading

Posted in Chrysomelidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Colorado’s Great Sand Dunes Tiger Beetle

Last year’s Annual Fall Tiger Beetle Trip entered its last day as an unqualified success. Travel partner Jeff Huether and I were doing the “Great Western Sand Dune Tour” on a quest to find and photograph some of North America’s most geographically … Continue reading

Posted in Cicindelidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Memories of summer – Neoclytus scutellaris

During the short, cold days of winter it’s nice to take a break from the curatorial activities that dominate the season and look back on some of the insects seen during the previous summer. This is Neoclytus scutellaris, a longhorned … Continue reading

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

Something for Adrian

In a comment on my Buprestidae exchange post, Adrian Thysse asked to see hi-res images of specimen drawers from my own collection. Like any good North American entomologist, Adrian was a little bothered by the card-mounting technique used by the sender of the specimen … Continue reading

Posted in Cerambycidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments