Tag Archives: Oklahoma

“Blue-sky” tips and tricks

Posted on July 1, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

For the past two years I’ve been working to refine my “blue-sky” technique for insect macrophotographs. This refers to careful balancing of camera and flash settings to achieve full-flash illumination of the subject while still allowing enough ambient illumination from the sky … Continue reading →

Posted in Chrysopidae, Neuroptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Plionoma suturalis in Oklahoma—a new state record!

Posted on June 23, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

When I returned from my vacation/insect collecting trip to western Oklahoma two weeks ago, most people upon learning where I went responded with a funny look that said, “Why would you want to go to Oklahoma?” Even entomologists familiar with … Continue reading →

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

A chalcidid jewel beetle parasitoid wasp

Posted on June 21, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

As a student of jewel beetles with an interest in their larval host plant associations, rearing has been an important tool for my studies. Through the years, I’ve retrieved literally hundreds of batches of dead wood from the field and … Continue reading →

Posted in Hymenoptera | Tagged , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Oklahoma Collecting Trip iReport

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

I’m back home after my week-long collecting trip to western Oklahoma, and at the risk of sounding hyperbolous I can only describe it as one of the most successful collecting trips I’ve ever had. Seriously! These kinds of trips don’t happen all that often … Continue reading →

Posted in Acrididae, Aves, Cactaceae, Cerambycidae, Coleoptera, Orthoptera, Reptilia, Vertebrata | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Western Diamondback Rattlesnake

Posted on June 6, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

I’m always delighted to see snakes, even venomous species, and whenever my collecting takes me west I know my chances of seeing snakes are good. My first stop during the current collecting trip was the Gloss Mountains of northwestern Oklahoma, … Continue reading →

Posted in Reptilia, Vertebrata | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

How to collect larvae of Amblycheila cylindriformis

Posted on January 26, 2013 by Ted C. MacRae

Step 1. Go to your favorite grassland habitat in the western half of the Great Plains anywhere from Texas north to South Dakota and look for barren soil amongst the vegetation. Clay banks near streams or in ravines and even vertical clay … Continue reading →

Posted in Cicindelidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Black olives with legs

Posted on November 10, 2012 by Ted C. MacRae

While searching the open red-cedar woodland at Oklahoma’s Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge back in September, I rather regularly encountered these darkling beetles (family Tenebrionidae) that I recognized as the species Eleodes tricostata. I really wanted to photograph the first several that … Continue reading →

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

Why are this beetle’s elytra outstretched?

Posted on October 28, 2012 by Ted C. MacRae

I’ve puzzled over the beetle in the above photo since I first saw it back in September on Day 2 of this year’s Annual Fall Tiger Beetle Trip. I encountered it on a dead branch of eastern red-cedar (Juniperus virginiana) on … Continue reading →

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