In southern Arizona, tiger beetles are active at the start of the summer monsoons. Tiger beetles vary in size. The smallest lives in Borneo and measures 6 millimeters, about the length of a housefly. The largest lives in southern Africa. It measures up to 45 millimeters, about the width of a tea bag.
Tiger beetles come in many colors.
Some are plain black, but others are stunningly decorated in metallic green, brown, maroon, or purple, often with stripes or spots. All tiger beetles have long, thin mandibles shaped like sickles, which help them capture prey. Tiger beetle larvae use their mandibles to dig tunnels in the ground, where they wait for small insects to pass close enough for capture. The larvae stay in their tunnels from one to three years before emerging as adult beetles. An Australian tiger beetle takes the prize as the fastest runner of all the arthropods, a group that includes all insects, crustaceans, and arachnids.