Tag Archives: insects

T.G.I.Flyday: Tachinomyia sp.

Posted on December 21, 2012 by Ted C. MacRae

You would think that somebody with enough patience to photograph tiger beetles would be equally patient with “calyptrate” flies, but for me such is not the case. It’s not that I don’t find them interesting (although, really, what insect group … Continue reading →

Posted in Diptera, Tachinidae | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

A 50-million-year-old midge

Posted on December 18, 2012 by Ted C. MacRae

Several of the insect fossils collected from the Green River Formation (45–50 mya) that I am photographing appear to be flies, and specifically members of the “primitive” suborder Nematocera. This is not surprising, as the G.R. Formation of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, … Continue reading →

Posted in Chironomidae, Diptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Eye to eye to eye to eye with a tiger beetle larva

Posted on December 17, 2012 by Ted C. MacRae

After the past few years of hunting tiger beetles, I’ve learned not only how to find the larval burrows but—at least for most of the species occurring in Missouri—how to identify the larvae in the field. While conclusive identifications rely upon … Continue reading →

Posted in Cicindelidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

An elegant Eocene fly

Posted on December 15, 2012 by Ted C. MacRae

Here is one of the more elegantly preserved specimens among the collection of Green River Formation fossil insects that I am photographing. It is obviously a fly (order Diptera), but I don’t agree with the preliminary identification of “Mosquito?” as indicated … Continue reading →

Posted in Diptera, Mycetophilidae, Sciaridae | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Beautiful box of Buprestidae

Posted on December 14, 2012 by Ted C. MacRae

I’ve been working on identifying Buprestidae accumulated from a variety of sources over the past year—mostly exchanges and gifts, before beginning the processing specimens collected during this past season. Once identified, and combined with specimens gleaned from material submitted by … Continue reading →

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

Beetle, orthop or something else?

Posted on December 12, 2012 by Ted C. MacRae

I had such helpful participation with my first fossil ID request that I thought I would go to the well again. This one is not so enigmatic as the first—it is clearly an insect, but it’s the only insect fossil among … Continue reading →

Posted in [No taxon] | Tagged , , , , , , | 22 Comments

The gloriously dichromatic Dasymutilla gloriosa

Posted on December 12, 2012 by Ted C. MacRae

I have a small collection of velvet ants (family Mutillidae) that I’ve accumulated over the years—not through active collection but more as bycatch from my beetle hunting operations. Velvet ants are, of course, not ants at all, but wasps, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Hymenoptera, Mutillidae | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Spider, insect or something else?

Posted on December 11, 2012 by Ted C. MacRae

I recently received a batch of fossil insects from a local fossil collector, who is hoping that I and other local entomologists will be able to provide some level of identification beyond just “insect.” All are from the Green River Formation, … Continue reading →

Posted in [No taxon] | Tagged , , , , , , | 21 Comments