Tiger beetle
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 Cicindela sexguttata
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United States:  Wikispecies has information related to:
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The tiger beetles are a large group of beetles known for their predatory habits.
Taxonomically, the beetles are classed as either the family Cicindelidae or (as shown here) as the subfamily Cicindelinae of the Carabidae (ground beetles). There are about 2,100 species known.
Tiger beetles often have large bulging eyes, long, slender legs and large curved mandibles. All are predatory, both as adults and as larvae. The genus Cicindela has a cosmopolitan distribution. Other genera include Megacephala, Omus, Amblycheila and Mantichora. While members of the genus Cicindela are usually diurnal and may be out on the hottest days, Megacephala, Omus, Amblycheila and Mantichora are all nocturnal. Both Cicindela and Megacephala are often brightly colored, while the other genera mentioned are usually uniform black in color.
Tiger beetles in the genus Mantichora are the largest in size of the subfamily. These live primarily in the deserts of South Africa.
The larvae of tiger beetles live in cylindrical burrows as much as a meter deep. They are large-headed, hump-backed grubs that flip backwards to capture prey insects that wander over the ground. The fast-moving adults run down their prey. Some tiger beetles can run at a speed of 5 mph. For its size it has been suggested that they are the fastest running land animals. Some tiger beetles in the tropics are arboreal, but most run on the surface of the ground. They live along sea and lake shores, on sand dunes, around playa lakebeds and on clay banks or woodland paths.
Tiger beetles have been considered as good indicator species and have been used in ecological studies on biodiversity. The following are some of the species in this family found in North America:
- Amblycheila cylindriformis
- Cicindela circumpicta
- Cicindela denikei
- Cicindela formosa
- Cicindela gabbi - (Sandy Beach tiger beetle in California)
- Cicindela hemorrhagica hemorrhagica
- Cicindela hirticolis gravida - (Sandy Beach tiger beetle - another by the same common name - in California)
- Cicindela lemniscata
- Cicindela longilabris
- Cicindela nevadica
- Cicindela nevadica lincolniana - (Salt Creek tiger beetle)
- Cicindela obsoleta
- Cicindela oregona oregona - (see picture above)
- Cicindela patruela
- Cicindela politula
- Cicindela punctulata
- Cicindela scutellaris
- Cicindela senilis frosti - (Beach beetle from California)
- Cicindela sexguttata (Six-spotted Tiger Beetle)
- Cicindela trifasciata sigmoidea - (Mudflat tiger beetle in California)
- Cicindela trifasciata
- Megacephala carolina
- Omus dejeani
- Omus audouini
- Omus californicus
- Omus cazieri
- Omus submetallicus
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[edit] Bibliography
- Tiger Beetles of Alberta: Killers on the Clay, Stalkers on the Sand by John Acorn. University of Alberta Press, 2001.
- Tiger Beetles: The Evolution, Ecology, and Diversity of the Cicindelids by David L. Pearson and Alfried P. Vogler. Cornell University Press, 2001.
- A Field Guide to the Tiger Beetles of the United States and Canada by David L. Pearson, C. Barry Knisley and Charles J. Kazilek. Oxford University Press, 2005.
- http://homepage3.nifty.com/trechinae/cicinw.htm (Japanese)
