Tag Archives: Oklahoma

The real Eleodes suturalis…

Posted on September 16, 2010 by Ted C. MacRae

I recently posted a photograph of a clown beetle (Eleodes hispilabris) (family Tenebrionidae) that I found last July in the Glass Mountains of northwestern Oklahoma.  I had encountered that individual while stumbling through the mixed-grass prairie in the middle of the night in … Continue reading →

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

North America’s largest centipede

Posted on September 7, 2010 by Ted C. MacRae

As I prowled the remote mixed-grass prairie of northwestern Oklahoma in the middle of the night, an enormous, serpentine figure emerged frenetically from a clump of grass and clambered up the banks of the draw I was exploring.  Although I was … Continue reading →

Posted in Chilopoda, Scolopendromorpha | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 69 Comments

Trichodes bibalteatus in Oklahoma

Posted on August 31, 2010 by Ted C. MacRae

Among checkered beetles (family Cleridae), the genus Trichodes contains among the largest and most strikingly-colored species.  The 11 North American species of this predominantly Holarctic genus are primarily western in distribution, although two species (T. nuttalli and T. apivorus) do occur in the … Continue reading →

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

Clown beetle surprise

Posted on August 25, 2010 by Ted C. MacRae

As I slowly scanned my flashlight through the darkness across the mixed-grass prairie in the Glass Mountains of northwestern Oklahoma last July, there was one thing that I hoped not to see (prairie rattlesnake, unless from afar) and one thing … Continue reading →

Posted in Coleoptera, Tenebrionidae | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

What’s so special about this beetle?

Posted on August 12, 2010 by Ted C. MacRae

Regular readers of this blog might recognize this as the swift tiger beetle, Cylindera celeripes. This tiny, flightless beetle was once common in the central Great Plains; however, the species has experienced dramatic declines over the past century due to near … Continue reading →

Posted in Cicindelidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 25 Comments

What’s more difficult to see…

Posted on August 9, 2010 by Ted C. MacRae

…than a Trimerotropis latifasciata (broad-banded grasshopper) adult on lichen-encrusted clay exposures? Answer: A T. latifasciata nymph on lichen-encrusted clay exposures. My thanks to David J. Ferguson for confirming my initial ID as a species of Trimerotropis and provisionally placing these individuals as T. … Continue reading →

Posted in Acrididae, Orthoptera | Tagged , , , , , | 20 Comments

Manduca vs. Amblycheila

Posted on August 6, 2010 by Ted C. MacRae

Which one do you think will win? Copyright © Ted C. MacRae 2010 Email to a friend

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

The marvelously monstrous Microstylum morosum

Posted on August 4, 2010 by Ted C. MacRae

A few weeks ago, while waiting to begin my nocturnal hunt for the Great Plains giant tiger beetle (Amblycheila cylindriformis) in northwestern Oklahoma, I spent the daytime atop one of the red flat-topped mesas that meander through the area in nearby Gloss Mountain State … Continue reading →

Posted in Asilidae, Diptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 26 Comments