Tag Archives: chemical defenses

One-shot Wednesday: swamp milkweed leaf beetle

Posted on September 3, 2014 by

Technically this photograph of Labidomera clivicollis (swamp milkweed leaf beetle) doesn’t qualify as a “one-shot”, as I did take a few other shots as well. However, this was the only shot out of the handful that I didn’t throw away. It’s not … Continue reading →

Posted in Chrysomelidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hairy milkweed beetle

Posted on December 27, 2013 by

Across the Great Plains of North America, sand dune fields dot the landscape along rivers flowing east out of the Rocky Mountains. Formed by repeated periods of drought and the action of prevailing south/southwest winds on alluvium exposed by uplifting … Continue reading →

Posted in Cerambycidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Gulf Fritillary in southern Missouri

Posted on November 5, 2012 by

I’m not sure, but I think this might be the first time I’ve photographed a butterfly caterpillar. Not a bad subject to start with, as few butterflies have caterpillars that are more colorful than the Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae. A common … Continue reading →

Posted in Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

West Indian seagrape sawfly

Posted on June 28, 2012 by

I spent a few days in Puerto Rico last month. A quick in-and-out for work, there was little chance to do any real exploring. Nevertheless, I booked my return on the last possible flight out so that I would have at … Continue reading →

Posted in Argidae, Hymenoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Tucuras, langostas, y saltamontes

Posted on March 5, 2012 by

Tucuras, langostas, and saltamontes are names in Argentina for what we in North America call grasshoppers (order Orthoptera, superfamily Acridoidea). Argentina certainly has its share of species, some of which can only be described as “gigantes”! During my first week … Continue reading →

Posted in Acrididae, Orthoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Do you think I’m tasty?

Posted on June 11, 2011 by

As I hiked the upper stretch of the Shut-Ins Trail at Sam A. Baker State Park in southeastern Missouri, I encountered this 2-inch long millipede slowly making its way across the rocks.  Many millipedes, of course, produce hydrogen cyanide (HCN) as their primary method … Continue reading →

Posted in Diplopoda, Polydesmida | Tagged , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Clown beetle surprise

Posted on August 25, 2010 by

As I slowly scanned my flashlight through the darkness across the mixed-grass prairie in the Glass Mountains of northwestern Oklahoma last July, there was one thing that I hoped not to see (prairie rattlesnake, unless from afar) and one thing … Continue reading →

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

The Moth and Me #11

Posted on May 18, 2010 by

Welcome to issue #11 of The Moth and Me, the monthly carnival devoted to the “forgotten” lepidopterans. Most people – even entomologists – regard these as the lesser leps, denizens of the night, as if to hide their somber-colored drabness … Continue reading →

Posted in Arctiidae, Lepidoptera, Noctuidae, Notodontidae, Psychidae, Saturniidae, Sphingidae, Zygaenidae | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments