Tiger beetles are a family of beetles, Cicindelidae, known for their aggressive predatory habits and running speed. The fastest known species of tiger beetle, Rivacindela hudsoni, can run at a speed of 9km/h (5.6mph; 2.5m/s), or about 125 body lengths per second.[2] As of 2005, about 2,600 species and subspecies were known, with the richest diversity in the Oriental (Indo-Malayan) region, followed by the Neotropics.[3] While historically treated as a subfamily of ground beetles (Carabidae) under the name Cicindelinae, several studies since 2020 indicated that they should be treated as a family, the Cicindelidae, which are a sister group to Carabidae within the Adephaga.[4]
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 well-known genera include Tetracha, Omus, Amblycheila and Manticora. While members of the genus Cicindela are usually diurnal and may be out on the hottest days, Tetracha, Omus, Amblycheila and Manticora are all nocturnal. Both Cicindela and Tetracha are often brightly colored, while the other genera mentioned are usually uniform black in color. Tiger beetles in the genus Manticora are the largest in size of the family. These live primarily in the dry regions of southern Africa.[5]
The larvae of tiger beetles live in cylindrical burrows as much as a meter deep.
Tiger beetle larva repairing its shaft
The grubs have a large head, armored on top with up to six small eyes and formidable mandibles beneath. There is a prominent hump on the top of their fifth abdominal segment with two pairs of reverse pointing hooks to anchor then in their burrow with their head filling the burrow and flush with the surface. They wait for prey to come too close, attempt to grab and pull them down their shaft. The hump and hooks prevent struggling prey from pulling them out of their shaft.
Tiger beetle larvae attempting to catch prey
The fast-moving adults run down their prey and are extremely fast on the wing, their reaction times being of the same order as that of common houseflies.
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, being particularly fond of sandy surfaces.[6]
Tiger beetles display an unusual form of pursuit in which they alternatively sprint quickly toward their prey, then stop and visually reorient. This may be because while running, the beetle is moving too fast for its visual system to accurately process images.[2] To avoid obstacles while running they hold their antennae rigidly and directly in front of them to mechanically sense their environment.[10] There are many tiger beetles that hunt in flat, sandy areas, and their eyes have flat-world adaptations, such as high-acuity perception streaks corresponding to the horizon. A tiger beetle uses the elevation of its potential prey in its visual field to determine how far away it is. As visual hunters, tiger beetles tend to hunt in open, relatively flat habitats, such as sand bars, woodland paths, and barren ground scrubland. In this sense, beetles might be expected to use elevation as a distance cue in their visual pursuit of prey.[11] A few species of Cicindela have been found to be able to hunt without use of their eyes and several are crepuscular.[12]
Several species have been found to be sensitive to ultrasound and also produce ultrasound in response to bats and are thought to be Batesian mimics, imitating the sounds of toxic moths that are avoided by bats.[13]
Fossil record
The oldest fossil tiger beetle yet found, Cretotetracha grandis, comes from the Yixian Formation in Inner Mongolia, China, and dates to the early Cretaceous Period, 125 million years ago. Most fossils found are grey or yellow silty mudstone.[14] Traits that identify Cretotetracha as Cicindelinae include long mandibles shaped like sickles, simple teeth arranged along the mandible's inner surface, antennae that attach to the head between the base of the mandibles and the eye. The left mandible is approximately 3.3mm and the right mandible is approximately 4.2mm long. A long body form roughly around 8.1mm where the combined eyes and head are wider than the thorax, and long running legs.[14] Previously known Mesozoic fossils of tiger beetles have been described from the Crato Formation, about 113 million years ago[14] and Oxycheilopsis cretacicus from the Santana Formation, 112 million years ago,[15] both in Brazil.
Taxonomy
Tiger beetles had been treated either as a family Cicindelidae or as the subfamily Cicindelinae[16] of the Carabidae (ground beetles) but since 2020, there has been growing evidence for the treatment as a separate family, that is sister to the Carabidae.[4] Many genera are the result of the splitting of the large genus Cicindela, and many were described by the German entomologist Walther Horn.[4][17][1]
↑ Pearson, David L. (2001). Tiger beetles: the evolution, ecology, and diversity of the cicindelids. Ithaca: Comstock Publishing Associates. p.261. ISBN0801438829.
↑ Burdick, D.J. and Wasbauer, M.S. (1959). "Biology of Methocha californica Westwood (Hymenoptera: Tiphiidae)." Wasmann Jour. Biol. 17:75-88. Department of Environmental Conservation
↑ Layne, J. E., Chen, P. W., & Gilbert, C. (2006). The role of target elevation in prey selection by tiger beetles (Carabidae: Cicindela spp.). Journal of Experimental Biology, 209(Pt 21), 4295–4303.
"Further new country records of African Tiger Beetles with some taxonomical note (Coleoptera, Cicindelidae)" by Peter Schüle. Entomologia Africana 15(2), 2010.
The Tiger beetles of Africa by Karl Werner, Taita Publishers 2000.
"A Quantitative Analysis of Species Descriptions of Tiger Beetles (Coleoptera Cicindelidae), from 1758 to 2004, and Notes about Related Developments in Biodiversity Studies" by D.L. Pearson and F. Cassola. The Coleopterists Bulletin Vol 59, no. 2, June 2005.
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.
Cicindela, commonly known as common tiger beetles, are generally brightly colored and metallic beetles, often with some sort of patterning of ivory or cream-colored markings. They are most abundant and diverse in habitats very often near bodies of water with sandy or occasionally clay soils; they can be found along rivers, sea and lake shores, sand dunes, around dry lakebeds, on clay banks, or woodland paths.
Aniara sepulcralis is a species of beetle in the family Cicindelidae, the only species in the genus Aniara.
Brasiella is a genus of tiger beetles in the family Cicindelidae. There are more than 50 described species in Brasiella.
Caledonomorpha is a genus in the tiger beetle family Cicindelidae.
Dromica is a genus in the beetle family Cicindelidae. There are at least 190 described species in Dromica, found in Africa.
Ellipsoptera is a genus in the beetle family Cicindelidae. There are about 13 described species in Ellipsoptera, found in North America.
Euryarthron is a genus in the beetle family Cicindelidae. There are more than 20 described species in Euryarthron, found in Africa.
Leptognatha is a genus in the beetle family Cicindelidae. There are more than 30 described species in Leptognatha.
Myriochila is a genus of tiger beetles in the family Cicindelidae, containing the following species:
Polyrhanis is a genus in the beetle family Cicindelidae. There are more than 50 described species in Polyrhanis.
Pseudoxycheila is a genus of beetles in the family Cicindelidae, containing the following species:
Salpingophora is a genus of tiger beetles. There are about five described species in Salpingophora.
Tricondyla is a genus of tiger beetles in the family Cicindelidae. There are more than 40 described species in Tricondyla, found in South and Southeast Asia, and in Oceania.
Cicindela aurulenta, common name blue-spotted or golden-spotted tiger beetle, is a beetle of the family Cicindelidae.
Cicindela aulica is a species in the tiger beetle family Cicindelidae. It is found in Africa, southern Europe, and southwest Asia.
Cicindelini is a tribe of tiger beetles in the family Cicindelidae, containing the overwhelming majority of genera and species in the family. There are more than 90 genera and 2,000 described species in Cicindelini.
Megacephalini is a tribe of big-headed tiger beetles in the family Cicindelidae.
Calochroa is a genus of beetles belonging to the family Cicindelidae. Some authors treat them within the broader genus Cicindela. The genus as used in 2020 shows polyphyly with Calochroa species forming two clades with one clade being a sister to the genus Lophyra and another being a sister to the genus Hipparidium.
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