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Jim McClarin, Contributing Editor
Full name:
Jim McClarin
City, state, country:
Cosanga, Napo, Ecuador
Biography:

Have collected and photographed insects in eastern Ecuador, El Dorado, Placer, and Sacramento Counties in northern California, Doña Ana County in New Mexico, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. So far I have collected and photographed members of 101 beetle families. I've posted almost 4,000 images of beetles from Ecuador on flickr.com Below is a photo of me taken by Luis "Lucho" Salagaje at the Yanayacu Biological Research Station, Cosanga, Napo, Ecuador before heading out on the trail to my cloud forest property.

There are many species awaiting discovery in this area of Ecuador. I have discovered 14 new genera and several dozen new species here. I'm also intent on stimulating the creation of a Latin American Bug Guide, available in Spanish, English, and Brazilian Portuguese.

Jim McClarin, beetle hunter


Unless I am overlooking something, I think I’ve submitted initial images for the following arthropod families new to bugguide:
Coleoptera
Aderidae, Boridae, Byturidae, Cerylonidae, Ciidae, Corylophidae, Derodontidae, Dryopidae, Elmidae, Eucnemidae, Latridiidae, Melandryidae,
Ochodeidae, Mycetophagidae, Phalacridae, Ptiliidae, Pythidae, Scraptiidae, Sphindidae, Synchroidae
Diptera
Xylomyidae
Lepidoptera
Prodoxidae
Hemiptera
Anthocoridae, Ceratocombidae
Collembola
Cyphoderidae
Acari
Zerconidae, Uropodidae, Acaridae, Tarsonemidae, Diplogyniidae, Galumnidae, Digamasellidae, Carabodidae, Haplozetidae
Apterygota
Tricholedtiidae
Diplopoda
Polyxenidae

In addition, I have collected these records so far for state, region, country, and planet:
New Hampshire
Xylomya americana (fly family Xylomylidae), Prodoxus decipiens (this is a NH record for the entire moth family Prodoxidae), Tenebroides bimaculatus (beetle family Trogossitidae), Onthophagus taurus (beetle family Scarabaeidae), Ataenius gracilis (beetle family Scarabaeidae),
New England
Novelsis aequalis (beetle family Dermestidae), Bacanius punctiformis (beetle family Histeridae), Tritoma tenebrosa (beetle family Erotylidae)
Dirrhagofarsus ernae (beetle family Eucnemidae)
US
Dicyrtomina ornata according to European taxonomy (globular springtail family Dicyrtomidae)
Ptenothrix flavescens (globular springtail family Dicyrtomidae)
World (apparent discovery of new taxon):
Species: genus indeterminate, species undescribed (beetle family Laemophloeidae), Ecuador
Species: Phloeolaemus, undescribed (beetle family Laemophloeidae), Ecuador
Species: Holophygus, undescribed (beetle family Discolomatidae), Ecuador
Genus: genus undescribed (beetle family Lampyridae), Ecuador
1st association of adult/immature stage/sexes:
Larva: Holophygus, undescribed (beetle family Discolomatidae), Ecuador
Larva: Dirrhagofarsus ernae (beetle family Eucnemidae), New Hampshire



Some beetle families I have collected only in South America although all but one (Discolomatidae) exist in the US:
Biphyllidae
Discolomatidae
Hybosoridae
Hydraenidae
Limnichidae
Passalidae
Phengodidae


Favorites
Although most of my photos are indoor "studio" shots, my favorites are images that have unusual content, such as this lizard beetle in takeoff position, these two male Carabus nemoralis ground beetles attacking a large earthworm, or this trio of parasitic wasp pupae protruding from the spent husk of their host, a hapless rove beetle larva:



Techniques
I am always devising and refining equipment and techniques for collecting and photographing arthropods and enjoy demonstrating what I've developed. These clickable thumbnail images lead to writeups and often further images showing what I've come up with:



My forum articles
Stacking images
How can I create and attach sound files of insect noises?
Lighting solutions for insect photography
Collecting by driving
How to recruit specialists to ID bugguide images
Which could win, the spider or the fly?
Beetle family wish list
Rearing beetles from fungus
Mountaintop collecting phenomenon
The search for Pytho strictus, the lost beetle of Mt. Washington
Coccinellid subfamilies
Clickable data points
Under-represented regions
Brentidae (Coleoptera) genus misspelled?
Bug Guide firsts list for Latin American Bug Guide project