• Home
  • About Alex Wild
  • Articles
  • Galleries
  • Myrmecology News

Myrmecos Blog

the little things matter

Feeds:
Posts
Comments
« Another edition of Why I’d Rather Not Be a Bug
The Scienceblogs fiasco and the future of Myrmecos »

Friday Beetle Blogging: The Swift Tiger Beetle

July 9, 2010 by myrmecos

[the following is an invited post by coleopterist Ted MacRae]

Ted MacRae from Beetles in the Bush here, and today it is my privilege to present this week’s post for the Friday Beetle Blogging series here at Myrmecos Blog. For what reason was I bestowed this great honor? I’d like to say it was because of my witty prose, my stunning photography, or even my all around niceness.  In truth, however, it was simply because I was the June winner of Alex’s Monday Night Mystery contest – so he had to let me!

These are some of my most recent photographs of Cylindera celeripes, or the Swift Tiger Beetle.  This tiny (6-8 mm in length), flightless beetle and I have become good friends over the past couple of years, which is saying something since the species has been dealt a rather bad hand by man over the past century.  Once abundant in the central and southern Great Plains, its numbers have declined drastically as the native prairie habitats it depends upon have been converted to row crops and exotic grasses.  It was last seen in Nebraska nearly 100 years ago, and only small numbers have been seen in the Loess Hills of Iowa during the past half century.  The Flint Hills of Kansas seemed to be its last stronghold, but last year I found robust populations in the Red Clay/Gypsum Hills of northwestern Oklahoma and extended its known range in the Loess Hills south into Missouri.  Since then, I’ve been monitoring these two populations and perfecting laboratory rearing techniques for this never-before-reared species.  Just yesterday (big announcement!), the first individual reared completely from egg to adult emerged from its pupal chamber.  The photos shown here were taken last weekend in Oklahoma’s Glass Mountains – the first shows a female in the act of ovipositing into a small hole she had dug in the soil, and the second is a closer view of the same individual after she had finished her business.


photo details: Canon 50D camera
Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens
ISO 100, f/14 (top) f/13 (bottom), 1/250 sec
Canon MT-24EX flash (1/8 power, double diffusion)

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Posted in beetles, Nature | 11 Comments

11 Responses

  1. on July 9, 2010 at 7:05 am myrmecos

    Awesome, Ted. Will any of your work find its way into the technical literature?


    • on July 9, 2010 at 11:48 am Ted C. MacRae

      Absolutely – all of the new records are part of a manuscript nearing completion that will review historical and current distribution of the beetle and discuss its conservation status. The larval instars will also be formally described once I have enough examples of each, with rearing techniques included in that paper.


  2. on July 9, 2010 at 10:59 am JasonC.

    Pretty pictures. I always thought that tiger beetles were adorable, in their own sinister toothy way.


    • on July 9, 2010 at 11:50 am Ted C. MacRae

      I’ve described them as possessing “toothy-jawed behavioral charisma.”


  3. on July 9, 2010 at 11:24 am Vicarious Friday Beetle Blogging « Beetles In The Bush

    […] July 9, 2010 by Ted C. MacRae Leave a Comment Despite the fact that I have a beetle blog and Alex has an ant blog, it is the latter where the regular series Friday Beetle Blogging resides (hmm, I wonder if I should start a Myrmecine Monday series?).  Alex has perhaps the best science-based entomoblog of anyone, so I’m thrilled to contribute today’s edition.  Check it out: Friday Beetle Blogging – the Swift Tiger Beetle. […]


  4. on July 9, 2010 at 11:43 am James C. Trager

    So Ted: Is “myrmecine” the adjective meaning referring to Myrmecos. Just asking, since it is not a myrmecological term (as spelled).


    • on July 9, 2010 at 11:53 am Ted C. MacRae

      Technically, one could argue that “myrmecine” is an noun referring to any member of the subfamily Myrmecinae or the tribe Myrmecini. Were I to actually launch Myrmecine Monday, however, I doubt anyone would object to members of other subfamilies/tribes being featured 🙂


      • on July 10, 2010 at 9:27 am James C. Trager

        All the variants of “myrm-” are a mess in the Formicidae. Maybe I should blog about this.


      • on July 10, 2010 at 7:02 pm Ted C. MacRae

        Please do – I love pedantic rants!


  5. on July 10, 2010 at 11:05 am Images from the Student Bee Yard « Myrmecos Blog

    […] know, Myrmecos Blog has been horribly boring the last few weeks. Except for the occasional Beetle Blog, that […]


  6. on July 17, 2010 at 9:22 am Collecting in Australia’s remote McIlwraith range « Beetles In The Bush

    […] MacRae so graciously guest blogged for me last week, so I figured it’s time to turn this around and send one Ted’s way. […]



Comments are closed.


  • This blog is an archive; the Myrmecos blog has moved.

    Please update your bookmarks!
  • Alex’s Galleries

    alexanderwild.com

  • Recent Photos

    Faro de Punta FrouxeiraEnfin tranquille !OrtaköySpringtime - FinallyLUMINOUS LYON - Lyon, FranceSauna
    More Photos
  • Biology Links

    • Tree of Life
    • Understanding Evolution
  • Blogroll

    • Ainsley Vs Livejournal
    • Ammonite
    • Anna’s Bee World
    • Archetype
    • Arthropoda blog
    • Backyard Arthropod Project
    • Beetles in the Bush
    • biodiversity in focus
    • Bug Dreams
    • Bug Eric
    • Bug Girl’s Blog
    • Burrard-Lucas Photoblog
    • Catalogue of Organisms
    • Creature Cast
    • Dan Heller
    • Debbie's Insect Blog
    • Dechronization
    • Drawing the MotMot
    • Entomoblog
    • Evolving Thoughts
    • Fall to Climb
    • Generant
    • Historias de Hormigas
    • Life on Six Legs
    • Macromite
    • microecos
    • mirmekolozi
    • myrmecoid
    • Myrmician
    • Natural Imagery
    • Nature in the Ozarks
    • NCSU Insect Blog
    • No Cropping Zone
    • omit needless words
    • Photo Synthesis
    • Princess Peppercloud
    • Science Blogs
    • Snail’s Tales
    • Stu Jenks
    • The Ant Hunter
    • The Ant Room
    • The Bug Whisperer
    • The Loom
    • This Week in Evolution
    • What's Bugging You?
    • Wild about Ants
    • Xenogere
  • Insect Links

    • Ant Farm Forum
    • Ant Insights
    • Antweb
    • Bug Squad
    • bugguide.net
    • Xerces Society
  • Photography Links

    • Canon Photography Forums
    • Digital Photography Review
    • DIY Photography
    • Igor Siwanowicz
    • Mark Plonsky
    • photo.net
    • Piotr Naskrecki
    • The Strobist
  • Popular Posts

    • Things that look like ants but aren't (Part 2)
    • How to Identify Queen Ants
    • What does it mean to be an eyeless ant?
    • The Rogue Taxonomist
    • Friday Beetle Blogging: The Eyed Elater
    • Friday Beetle Blogging: Nicrophorus orbicollis
    • Friday Beetle Blogging: Palo Verde Beetle
    • North America's charming citronella ants
    • The eggs that weren't
    • These aren't eggs...
  • Recent Posts

    • This blog has moved.
    • Friday Beetle Blogging: The Hollyhock Weevil
    • The Friday Beetle will be late…
    • Bed bugs reach an all-time high
    • Answer to the Monday Night Mystery
  • Recent Comments

    • Donald Byron Johnson on Reader question: who discovered the sex of ant workers?
    • Anonymous on Update on the Rogue Taxonomist
    • Ant on Arizona Daily Star covers “Planet of the Ants”
    • Ga. Girl on Beware the Cow-Killer
    • Anonymous on Beware the Cow-Killer
  • Categories

  • Archives

  • animation Ants aphids arachnids Argentina arizona army ants art Bees beetles behavior biodiversity biology Biology Links bugs Canon carabidae coleoptera copyright Darwin desert diptera E. O. Wilson ecology entomology Evolution fail fire ants Flies formicidae genetics google haiku Harpegnathos imaging Insect Links Insects invasive species lighting Linepithema macro macrophotography macro photography Martialis media miniscule muppets music myrmecology mystery natural history Nature new species odontomachus Parasites Paratrechina pests pheidole Photography Photography business photoshop phylogenetics phylogeny Pogonomyrmex politics predation Scarabaeidae Science SEM social insects spiders Taxonomy termites travel wasps
  • Nature Blog Network
    Add to Technorati Favorites

    Follow this blog

Blog at WordPress.com.

WPThemes.


  • Follow Following
    • Myrmecos Blog
    • Join 90 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Myrmecos Blog
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Copy shortlink
    • Report this content
    • View post in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: