Tag Archives: predator avoidance

Litaneutria minor – agile ground mantid

Posted on November 28, 2010 by Ted C. MacRae

Have you ever seen a mantid that lives exclusively on the ground?  Most mantids are ambush predators, hiding amongst the bushes while patiently waiting for unsuspecting prey to happen within striking range.  However, a few small groups of mantids have adopted a different strategy – … Continue reading →

Posted in Dictyoptera, Mantidae, Mantodea | Tagged , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Desmocerus palliatus – elderberry borer

Posted on November 18, 2010 by Ted C. MacRae

Last June I made two trips to the Loess Hills in northwestern Missouri to survey additional sites for Cylindera celeripes (swift tiger beetle), which my colleague Chris Brown and I had discovered in some of the area’s few remaining loess … Continue reading →

Posted in Cerambycidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 31 Comments

Halloween ID challenge answer – Argiope trifasciata

Posted on November 2, 2010 by Ted C. MacRae

Here is another photo of the spider in the previous post with a closer view of its spiny pedipalps (mouth feeler thingys).  Troy Bartlett and BitB’s own James Trager got it right – the spider is, indeed, Argiope trifasciata, the banded … Continue reading →

Posted in Arachnida, Araneae | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Phreaky Phalangid

Posted on October 25, 2010 by Ted C. MacRae

While searching through shortgrass prairie atop the Pine Ridge in northwestern Nebraska in hopes of finding Cicindela nebraskana (prairie long-lipped tiger beetle), this harvestman caught my eye.  Harvestmen are, of course, arachnids related to spiders, but they lack fangs and … Continue reading →

Posted in Arachnida, Opiliones | Tagged , , , , , , , | 14 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

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

An irresistible sight!

Posted on June 10, 2010 by Ted C. MacRae

One of the few highlights of my Memorial Day weekend collecting trip came in the earliest moments of my visit to Ha Ha Tonka State Park.  My destination was Ha Ha Tonka Savanna Natural Area, and a short walk through fire-restored woodland … Continue reading →

Posted in Buprestidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 24 Comments

The Moth and Me #11

Posted on May 18, 2010 by Ted C. MacRae

Welcome to issue #11 of The Moth and Me, the monthly carnival devoted to the “forgotten” lepidopterans. Most people – even entomologists – regard these as the lesser leps, denizens of the night, as if to hide their somber-colored drabness … Continue reading →

Posted in Arctiidae, Lepidoptera, Noctuidae, Notodontidae, Psychidae, Saturniidae, Sphingidae, Zygaenidae | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments