Tag Archives: prairies

Illinois Butterfly Monitoring Network

Posted on March 2, 2009 by Ted C. MacRae

For those of you who plan to be in the Chicago area on Saturday, March 7th, perhaps you’ll be interested in attending the 2009 Illinois Butterfly Monitoring Network Annual Indoor Workshop. I’ll be giving a talk entitled, “From Hilltops to … Continue reading →

Posted in [No taxon] | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Magnificently Monstrous Muscomorphs

Posted on November 11, 2008 by Ted C. MacRae

I suppose tiger beetles have gotten more than their fair share of attention here lately, so for this post I thought I’d highlight insects of a completely different group – flies! Admittedly, as a coleopterist, I tend to view flies … Continue reading →

Posted in Asilidae, Bombyliidae, Diptera, Mydidae | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Cicindela scutellaris lecontei x scutellaris unicolor intergrades in southeast Missouri

Posted on November 3, 2008 by Ted C. MacRae

Cicindela scutellaris (festive tiger beetle) is widely distributed in the U.S., having been recorded from most areas east of the Rocky Mountains except Appalachia, the lower Mississippi River delta, and south Florida. Within this range, the species occupies deep, dry … Continue reading →

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

A sand prairie autumn

Posted on October 27, 2008 by Ted C. MacRae

Ask any astronomer when autumn begins, and they will likely tell you it begins at the autumnal equinox – when shortening days and lengthening nights become equal as the sun crosses over the celestial equator. According to them, fall began … Continue reading →

Posted in Ascalaphidae, Asilidae, Cicindelidae, Coleoptera, Coreidae, Crabronidae, Diptera, Fabaceae, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Myrmeleontidae, Neuroptera, Poaceae, Polygonaceae, Sphecidae | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

A hunting we will go!

Posted on September 18, 2008 by Ted C. MacRae

Maps have been prepared. Relevant emails from my esteemed colleagues to the northwest have been read and re-read. Summary sheets on the distribution, biology, and biogeography of the many different species I hope to encounter are in hand. Google Earth … 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

The hunt for Cicindela celeripes

Posted on August 9, 2008 by Ted C. MacRae

One of the more enigmatic tiger beetle species in North America is Cicindela celeripes LeConte (swift tiger beetle). This small (6-8 mm), flightless species has been recorded from a restricted area of the eastern and southern Great Plains – from … Continue reading →

Posted in Cicindelidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 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