Twelve-spotted Tiger Beetles Mating
As their name implies, all species of tiger beetles are ferocious predators. They are equipped with huge eyes, large three-toothed mandibles that crisscross at their tips and the ability to move very fast . Twelve-spotted Tiger Beetles (Cicindela duodecimguttata) are usually found in open, sandy spots, where their larvae can dig and live in burrows. Adult tiger beetles use their formidable mandibles to masticate their prey and then squeeze the bits and drink the resulting liquid.
In May and June, whenever they are not ambushing prey, Twelve-spotted Tiger Beetles are concentrating on reproducing, as the “menage a trois” photo illustrates.
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Twelve-spotted Tiger Beetle Larva at Work
Without doubt, I have one of the most erudite readerships in the land of blogs. Several people recognized this uncommon phenomenon. To clear up a few misconceptions, however, being a male, this dragonfly was not laying eggs. Neither was it fertilizing them – male dragonflies perform this act when coupled with a female. This Chalk-fronted Corporal had the misfortune to sun itself on a tiger beetle-inhabited patch of sand. One of the most aggressive groups of insect predators is the tiger beetle family. They are especially known for their speed – up to 5.6 mph, which is comparable to a human running 480 mph. If you watch an adult tiger beetle hunting, you’ll notice that it stops and starts frequently. This is because it runs so fast it goes blind — its brain has trouble processing the information it sees, and the beetle must stop to regain its sight.
The larvae of the Twelve-spotted Tiger Beetle live in tunnels that they dig in the sand (some of you noticed tiny holes near the dragonfly) that can be up to a foot deep. The larvae have hooks located on the back of their abdomen to anchor them to the side of the burrow. Tiger beetle larvae are also predators, and after digging a tunnel the Twelve-spotted Tiger Beetle will crawl up it until just the top of its head is visible. From this position the larva watches for prey wandering by. When it sees a potential meal, such as yesterday’s dragonfly, it flips backwards faster than you can blink an eye and grabs its prey, pulling it down as far as it can into its tunnel, where it safely feasts on its catch. The portion of the Chalk-fronted Corporal’s abdomen that was inside the tiger beetle tunnel was completely consumed except for the outer skeleton.
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