Tag Archives: longhorned beetles

Nomenclatural changes in Phymatodes

I’ve mentioned before the considerable taxonomic challenges facing students of the family Buprestidae (jewel beetles) in North America, owing largely to fact that more than half of its species are assigned to one of just three hyper-diverse genera (Acmaeodera, Agrilus, … Continue reading

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

When is a locust borer not a locust borer?

…when it is a hickory borer! The hickory borer, Megacyllene caryae, is perhaps the most frequently misidentified beetle in eastern North America due to its almost perfect resemblance to the closely related locust borer, M. robiniae.  Unlike the latter species, … Continue reading

Posted in Cerambycidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , | 24 Comments

Hitchin’ A Ride

One of the more common species of longhorned beetles (family Cerambycidae) in Missouri, and throughout the eastern U.S., is Stenosphenus notatus.  Despite its commonness, however, it is a species that is easily overlooked because of its very early seasonality, emerging … Continue reading

Posted in Cerambycidae, Coleoptera, Pseudoscorpiones | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Friday Flower – Pawpaw

As my friend Rich and I stood in the verdent understory admiring the spectacular panicles of red buckeye punctuating the green lushness, a small brown flower on a leafless branch above me caught my eye.  “Pawpaw!” I exclaimed, perhaps partly in … Continue reading

Posted in Annonaceae, Cerambycidae, Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Papilionidae | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 28 Comments

Monday Ménage – Brachyleptura rubrica

This mating pair of longhorned beetles represents Brachyleptura rubrica, one of several so-called “flower longhorns” (including the rare Typocerus deceptus) that I saw on flowers of Hydrangea arborescens last June at Trail of Tears State Park in southeastern Missouri.  Flower … Continue reading

Posted in Cerambycidae | Tagged , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

North America’s most beautiful longhorned beetle

I’ve written a few posts in recent weeks highlighting some of the more interesting finds encountered during two visits this past July to the White River Hills region of extreme southwestern Missouri. It’s a land of extremes, with deeply dissected … Continue reading

Posted in Cerambycidae, Coleoptera, Sapotaceae | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 34 Comments

Typocerus deceptus in Missouri

It has been fifteen years now since I published an annotated checklist of the longhorned beetles (families Cerambycidae and Disteniidae) of Missouri (MacRae 1994).  That publication (and a similar one on Buprestidae) was the product of eight years of collecting … Continue reading

Posted in Cerambycidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

A Silver Anniversary

Twenty-five years ago tomorrow, I discovered my first new species.  I didn’t know it at the time – in fact, it would be several years later before the budding, young entomologist that I was would finally conclude that the large, spectacularly beautiful, cerambycid beetle … Continue reading

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