…an inordinate fondness for beetles!
It seems therefore that a taste for collecting beetles is some indication of future success in life!--Charles Darwin
I feel like an old war-horse at the sound of a trumpet when I read about the capture of rare beetles.--Charles Darwin
The Creator, if He exists, must have an inordinate fondness for beetles.--J. B. S. Haldane
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Ted C. MacRae is an agricultural research entomologist with "an inordinate fondness for beetles." Primary expertise includes taxonomy and host associations of wood-boring beetles, with more recent interest also in tiger beetle survey and conservation. I am currently serving as Managing Editor of the The Pan-Pacific Entomologist, Layout Editor for the journal Cicindela and Newsletter Editor for the Webster Groves Nature Study Society. Visit me also at these other sites:
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Copyright Statement
All text and photos appearing on this website are © Ted C. MacRae, all rights reserved. See TERMS OF USE for details regarding conditions for allowed use.
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Tag Archives: herpetology
Florida Scrub Lizard
Tiger beetles were not the only rare endemic species that I encountered during my visit to the Lake Wales Ridge in central Florida last August. I didn’t know what this small lizard was as I watched it bolt from the … Continue reading
Posted in Reptilia
Tagged conservation, Florida, habitat management, herpetology, lizards, nature, reptiles, scrub, taxonomy
18 Comments
North America’s smallest rattlesnake
Despite tramping through the brush with great frequency during most of my life, I haven’t really seen that many noteworthy reptiles. I don’t know whether its because I’ve failed to actually encounter them or whether my singleminded obsession with insects … Continue reading
Posted in Reptilia
Tagged crypsis, glades, herpetology, Missouri, nature, North America's most..., Ozarks, predator avoidance, reptiles, snakes, taxonomy
24 Comments
Western hognose snake
Another herp interlude… Photo details: Canon 100mm macro lens on Canon EOS 50D, ISO 100, 1/250 sec, f/14, MT-24EX flash 1/4 power w/ diffuser caps. During my visit to Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge in northwestern Oklahoma this past June, tiger … Continue reading
Posted in Reptilia
Tagged behavior, Great Plains, herpetology, nature, Oklahoma, predator avoidance, reptiles, salt flats, snakes, taxonomy
29 Comments
North America’s most bizarre lizard
Hmm, something funny going on here. This is a bug blog – specifically a beetle blog, yet it’s a post about a lizard that generates a flurry of comments. I don’t know if lightning will strike twice so quickly, but … Continue reading
Posted in Reptilia
Tagged behavior, conservation, crypsis, Great Plains, herpetology, lizards, nature, North America's most..., Oklahoma, prairies, predator avoidance, reptiles
32 Comments
North America’s most beautiful lizard
Whew! My fingers and keyboard are still smoking after that long series on Cylindera celeripes (parts 1, 2, and 3). Exciting as my celeripes finds were, there were other “tiger beetle moments” from the Oklahoma trip as well that I … Continue reading
Posted in Reptilia
Tagged Great Plains, herpetology, lizards, nature, North America's most..., Oklahoma, prairies, reptiles
43 Comments
Osage copperhead
While photographing Cicindela sexguttata last weekend, Chris and I encountered this young copperhead snake (Agkistrodon contortrix). It was the second copperhead I had seen in as many days – unusual, since I can count on my two hands the number … Continue reading
Posted in Reptilia
Tagged herpetology, indigenous cultures, Missouri, nature, Ozarks, reptiles, snakes
25 Comments
A sand prairie autumn
Ask any astronomer when autumn begins, and they will likely tell you it begins at the autumnal equinox – when shortening days and lengthening nights become equal as the sun crosses over the celestial equator. According to them, fall began … Continue reading
Posted in Ascalaphidae, Asilidae, Cicindelidae, Coleoptera, Coreidae, Crabronidae, Diptera, Fabaceae, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Myrmeleontidae, Neuroptera, Poaceae, Polygonaceae, Sphecidae
Tagged antlions, beetles, Botany, bugs, conservation, entomology, family, flies, grasses, herpetology, insects, landscapes, Missouri, nature, owlflies, prairies, science, snakes, tiger beetles, wasps, wildflowers
12 Comments
Rattled in the Black Hills
My first day in the Black Hills of South Dakota was spent at McNenny State Fish Hatchery near Spearfish – on the north side of the Black Hills. I went to this place on the advice of my esteemed colleagues … Continue reading
Posted in Cerambycidae, Cicindelidae, Coleoptera, Reptilia
Tagged beetles, entomology, herpetology, insects, landscapes, longhorned beetles, nature, Nebraska, plains, reptiles, science, snakes, South Dakota, taxonomy, tiger beetles, Wyoming
11 Comments
