Tag Archives: jewel beetles

Beetle Collecting 101: How to rear wood-boring beetles

Posted on March 11, 2014 by Ted C. MacRae

I’ve been collecting wood-boring beetles for more than three decades now, and if I had to make a list of “essential” methods for collecting them I would include “beating,” “blacklighting,” and “rearing.” Beating is relatively straightforward—take a beating sheet (a square … Continue reading →

Posted in Buprestidae, Cerambycidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

What was that insect?

Posted on February 19, 2014 by Ted C. MacRae

Yesterday I posted an identification challenge of a different sort. The main subject in the photo was a jewel beetle (family Buprestidae), but there was also another insect in the photo—a small parasitic wasp sitting on the branch below the beetle. … Continue reading →

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

Receiving a shipment of insects for identification…

Posted on January 26, 2014 by Ted C. MacRae

…is like Christmas all over again! The sight of a newly delivered box sitting outside my office brings on a rush of excitement. The sight of an enormous box is even more exciting. I know what’s inside is gonna be good, … Continue reading →

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

Beetles by Chuck

Posted on January 18, 2014 by Ted C. MacRae

A few months before his passing last August, Chuck Bellamy asked me if I was would like to have his photographic slide collection. I was, of course, deeply honored by this request, for in addition to becoming one of the … Continue reading →

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

Review of North American Chalcophora

Posted on January 8, 2014 by Ted C. MacRae

The latest issue of The Coleopterists Bulletin arrived in my mailbox recently, and among the several papers of interest to me is a review of the North American species of the jewel beetle genus Chalcophora¹ (family Buprestidae). This genus contains some … Continue reading →

Posted in Buprestidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Best of BitB 2013

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

Welcome to the 6th Annual “Best of BitB”, where I pick my favorite photographs from the past year. Like last year, 2013 was another year of heavy travel. For work I did my annual tour of soybean field sites throughout Argentina … Continue reading →

Posted in Buprestidae, Cerambycidae, Chrysopidae, Cicindelidae, Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, Meloidae, Neuroptera, Noctuidae, Reduviidae, Siricidae | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

ID Correction: Megaloxantha bicolor palawanica

Posted on December 13, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

In a few previous posts (here and here), I used a particularly large jewel beetle specimen as a subject to test several different flash diffusers I was working on. I chose that particular specimen because of its large size (necessitating … Continue reading →

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

Why did it take 30 years to collect these beetles?

Posted on December 10, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

This is the best known of the American species of Poecilonota, and the one most commonly collected east of the Rocky Mountain.—Evans (1957) I’ve been interested in insects since I was a kid, but I didn’t really become a dedicated … Continue reading →

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