Tag Archives: Missouri

One-shot Wednesday: pale green assassin bug

Posted on May 14, 2014 by Ted C. MacRae

As my friend Rich and I set out a week ago Sunday on the final stretch in our quest to hike the 350-mile Ozark Trail in its entirety, I saw this slender, green assassin bug (family Reduviidae) sitting on a tender young leaf … Continue reading →

Posted in Hemiptera, Reduviidae | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Baby box turtle on white

Posted on May 13, 2014 by Ted C. MacRae

Box turtles of the genus Terrapene are extraordinarily common in Missouri, especially in the eastern and southern forested regions of the state where the three-toed box turtle (T. carolina triunguis)—Missouri’s state reptile—is the most commonly encountered form. Despite this abundance and the author’s more than a half-century spent … Continue reading →

Posted in Reptilia, Vertebrata | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

An arboreal fishing spider

Posted on May 2, 2014 by Ted C. MacRae

Last week was my birthday, and as is my usual custom I took the day off in favor of the season’s first “official” bug collecting trip. Falling in late April as it does, my birthday usually coincides nicely with insect activity … Continue reading →

Posted in Arachnida, Araneae | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The importance of post-processing

Posted on April 29, 2014 by Ted C. MacRae

One of the most frustrating realizations I had when I began photographing insects was the fact that photographs didn’t come out of the camera “ready-to-go”—i.e., they still needed to be processed to some degree to make them look good. Even … Continue reading →

Posted in Gryllidae, Orthoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

I’m a fun guy!

Posted on January 5, 2014 by Ted C. MacRae

The habit of looking at things microscopically as the lichens on the trees & rocks really prevents my seeing aught else in a walk.—Henry David Thoreau I should have loved an opportunity to go for a walk in the woods … Continue reading →

Posted in Fungi, Lichens, _Bryophytes | Tagged , , , , , , , | 26 Comments

How to be an “iPhone nature photographer”

Posted on December 24, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

My passion for insect macro-photography is well known, so it may come as a surprise to learn that I have, during the past year or so, also become an avid “iPhone photographer”—i.e., I actually use my iPhone for “real” photography … Continue reading →

Posted in Fungi | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

A winter longhorned beetle

Posted on November 26, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

According to the calendar it’s still autumn; however, in practical terms winter has settled in across much of the U.S. For those of us who study wood-boring beetles in the families Buprestidae (jewel beetles) and Cerambycidae (longhorned beetles), our time … Continue reading →

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

Sunday scarab: Phileurus valgus

Posted on November 17, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

Few beetles enjoy more popularity than the scarabs (family Scarabaeidae)¹, and within that group certainly the members of the subfamily Dynastinae are the most popular of all due to their often enormous size and presence of highly developed horns on … Continue reading →

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