Tiger beetle

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 , or about 125 body lengths per second. 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. 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.
Description
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.
The larvae of tiger beetles live in cylindrical burrows as much as a meter deep. They are large-headed, hump-backed grubs and use their humpbacks to flip backwards, for the purpose of capturing prey insects that wander over the ground. 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.
Tiger beetles are considered a good indicator species and have been used in ecological studies on biodiversity. Several species of wingless parasitic wasps in the genus Methocha (family Thynnidae), lay their eggs on larvae of various Cicindela spp., such as Cicindela dorsalis.
Adaptations
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. To avoid obstacles while running they hold their antennae rigidly and directly in front of them to mechanically sense their environment. 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.
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. 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 3.3 mm 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. Previously known Mesozoic fossils of tiger beetles have been described from the Crato Formation, about 113 million years ago and Oxycheilopsis cretacicus from the Santana Formation, 112 million years ago, both in Brazil.
Taxonomy
Tiger beetles had been treated either as a family Cicindelidae or as the subfamily Cicindelinae 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. Many genera are the result of the splitting of the large genus Cicindela, and many were described by the German entomologist Walther Horn.
Genera
Abroscelis Hope, 1838
Amblycheila Say, 1829
Aniara Hope, 1838
Antennaria Dokhtouroff, 1883
Apteroessa Hope, 1838
Archidela Rivalier, 1963
Baloghiella Mandl, 1981
Bennigsenium W. Horn, 1897
Brasiella Rivalier, 1954
Caledonica Chaudoir, 1860
Caledonomorpha W. Horn, 1897
Callidema Guerin-Meneville, 1843
Callytron Gistl, 1848
Calomera Motschulsky, 1862
Calyptoglossa Jeannel, 1946
Cenothyla Rivalier, 1969
Cephalota Dokhtouroff, 1883
Chaetodera Jeannel, 1946
Cheilonycha Lacordaire, 1843
Cheiloxya Guerin-Meneville, 1855
Cicindela Linnaeus, 1758
Collyris Fabricius, 1801
Cratohaerea Chaudoir, 1850
Cretotetracha Zhao et al., 2019
Ctenostoma Klug, 1821
Cylindera Westwood, 1831
Darlingtonica Cassola, 1986
Derocrania Chaudoir, 1860
Diastrophella Rivalier, 1957
Dilatotarsa Dokhtouroff, 1882
Distipsidera Westwood, 1837
Dromica Dejean, 1826
Dromicoida Werner, 1995
Dromochorus Guerin-Meneville, 1845
Ellipsoptera Dokhtouroff, 1883
Enantiola Rivalier, 1961
Eunota Rivalier, 1954
Euprosopus Dejean, 1825
Euryarthron Guerin-Meneville, 1849
Eurymorpha Hope, 1838
Euzona Rivalier, 1963
Grammognatha Motschulsky, 1850
Grandopronotalia W. Horn, 1936
Guineica Rivalier, 1963
Habrodera Motschulsky, 1862
Habroscelimorpha Dokhtouroff, 1883
Heptodonta Hope, 1838
Hypaetha Leconte, 1860
Hujia
Iresia Dejean, 1831
Jansenia Chaudoir, 1865
Jundlandia (LeConte, 1854)
Langea W. Horn, 1901
Leptognatha Rivalier, 1963
Lophyra Motschulsky, 1859
Macfarlandia Sumlin, 1981
Manautea Deuve, 2006
Mantica Kolbe, 1896
Manticora Fabricius, 1781
Megacephala Latreille, 1802
Megalomma Westwood, 1842
Metriocheila Thomson, 1857
Micromentignatha Sumlin, 1981
Microthylax Rivalier, 1954
Myriochila Motschulsky, 1862
Naviauxella Cassola, 1988
Neochila Basilewsky, 1953
Neocicindela Rivalier, 1963
Neocollyris W. Horn, 1901
Neolaphyra Bedel, 1895
Nickerlea W. Horn, 1899
Notospira Rivalier, 1961
Odontocheila Laporte, 1834
Omus Eschscholtz, 1829
Opilidia Rivalier, 1954
Opisthencentrus W. Horn, 1893
Orthocindela Rivalier, 1972
Oxycheila Dejean, 1825
†Oxycheilopsis Cassola & Werner, 2004
Oxygonia Mannerheim, 1837
Oxygoniola W. Horn, 1892
Paraphysodeutera J. Moravec, 2002
Pentacomia Bates, 1872
Peridexia Chaudoir, 1860
Phaeoxantha Chaudoir, 1850
Phyllodroma Lacordaire, 1843
Physodeutera Lacordaire, 1843
Picnochile Motschulsky, 1856
Platychile Macleay, 1825
Pogonostoma Klug, 1835
Polyrhanis Rivalier, 1963
Pometon Fleutiaux, 1899
Prepusa Chaudoir, 1850
Probstia Cassola, 2002
Pronyssa Bates, 1874
Pronyssiformia W. Horn, 1929
Prothyma Hope, 1838
Prothymidia Rivalier, 1957
Protocollyris Mandl, 1975
Pseudotetracha Fleutiaux, 1894
Pseudoxycheila Guerin-Meneville, 1839
Rhysopleura Sloane, 1906
Rhytidophaena Bates, 1891
Rivacindela Nidek, 1973
Ronhuberia J. Moravec & Kudrna, 2002
Salpingophora Rivalier, 1950
Socotrana Cassola & Wranik, 1998
Stenocosmia Rivalier, 1965
Sumlinia Cassola & Werner, 2001
Tetracha Hope, 1838
Therates Latreille, 1816
Thopeutica Schaum, 1861
Tricondyla Latreille, 1822
Vata Fauvel, 1903
Waltherhornia Olsoufieff, 1934
Citations
General and cited references
"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.
The Beetles of the World, volume 13 , volume 15 , volume 18 , and 20 volume 20 by Karl Werner, Sciences Nat, Venette, 1991, 1992, 1993 & 1995.
External links
Cicindela Online
https://web.archive.org/web/20060831202838/http://homepage3.nifty.com/trechinae/cicinw.htm
Planet's Coolest Critters—Tiger Beetles
Tiger Beetles of the U.S.A.
Tiger Beetles of Papua Indonesia
Tiger beetles of Florida on the UF / IFAS Featured Creatures Web site
Moravec J. (2010): Tiger Beetles of the Madagascan Region (Madagascar, Seychelles, Comoros, Mascarenes, and other islands) Taxonomic revision of the 17 genera occurring in the region (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae) (430 pp.)
Siuslaw Hairy-Necked Tiger Beetle —Video produced by Oregon Field Guide
Štrunc V. (2020): Tiger Beetles of the World - Illustrated guide to the genera, 338 species