Tag Archives: Missouri

It’s a girl!

Posted on October 15, 2008 by Ted C. MacRae

I’ve been interested in collecting insects since I was 10 years old, and my current collection dates back to spring semester 1978 when, after finally declaring a major, I kicked off my life as an entomologist with Entomology 101. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Cicindelidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

“All the better to see you with, my dear!”

Posted on September 12, 2008 by Ted C. MacRae

Click me! Cicindela formosa (the big sand tiger beetle) is a not uncommon species that occurs across much of North America east of the Rocky Mountains in deep, dry, open sand habitats. It is absent in Appalachia and much of … Continue reading →

Posted in Cicindelidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

The Loess Hills in Missouri

Posted on September 5, 2008 by Ted C. MacRae

The term Mountains in Miniature is the most expressive one to describe these bluffs. They have all the irregularity in shape, and in valleys that mountains have, they have no rocks and rarely timber. – Thaddeus Culbertson, missionary, 1852 One … Continue reading →

Posted in Acrididae, Agavaceae, Asclepiadaceae, Asteraceae, Cerambycidae, Coleoptera, Fabaceae, Orthoptera, Poaceae, Scarabaeidae, Scrophulariaceae | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Sand Prairie Conservation Area

Posted on July 30, 2008 by Ted C. MacRae

I have a love-hate affair with Missouri’s Southeast Lowlands (formally known as the Mississippi River Alluvial Basin, but simply called the “bootheel” by most folk in reference to the shape of its boundaries). Of the four main physiogeographic regions in … Continue reading →

Posted in Asclepiadaceae, Asteraceae, Boraginaceae, Cactaceae, Cerambycidae, Cicindelidae, Coleoptera, Fabaceae, Lamiaceae | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Dicerca pugionata

Posted on July 25, 2008 by Ted C. MacRae

In my recent post, Glades of Jefferson County, I discussed the occurrence on these glades of the strikingly beautiful Dicerca pugionata, a jewel beetle that breeds in the scraggly ninebark plants growing along the glades’ moist toeslopes. Adults of this … Continue reading →

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

Glades of Jefferson County

Posted on July 2, 2008 by Ted C. MacRae

We stood a moment to contemplate the sublime and beautiful scene before us, which was such an assembly of rocks and water—of hill and valley—of verdant woods and naked peaks—of native fertility and barren magnificence… – Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, 1818-1819 … Continue reading →

Posted in Anacardiaceae, Asclepiadaceae, Asteraceae, Buprestidae, Coleoptera, Cornaceae, Cupressaceae, Fagaceae, Mammalia, Onagraceae, Poaceae, Polemoniaceae, Ranunculaceae, Reptilia, Rosaceae | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Saving Missouri’s tigers

Posted on June 23, 2008 by Ted C. MacRae

For several years now, my friend and colleague, Chris Brown, and I have been studying the tiger beetles (family Cicindelidae) of Missouri in an attempt to characterize the faunal composition and in-state distributions of the included species. Our studies have … Continue reading →

Posted in Cicindelidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

The Chrysobothris femorata “problem”

Posted on June 12, 2008 by Ted C. MacRae

I found a young cottonwood tree (Populus deltoides) the other day that had recently fallen over in one of the many storms we’ve had this spring. Anytime I see one of these “windthrows” I immediately think – woodboring beetles! Windthrows … Continue reading →

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