Tiger beetle

Tiger beetle
Lophyra sp in Tanzania
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Coleoptera
Suborder:	Adephaga
Family:	Carabidae
Subfamily:	Cicindelinae Latreille, 1802
Tribes
Cicindelini Collyridini Ctenostometatini Manticorini Megacephalini Omini
Synonyms
Cicindelidae Latreille, 1802

The tiger beetles are a large group of beetles known for their aggressive predatory habits and running speed. The fastest species of tiger beetle can run at a speed of 9 km/h (5.6 mph), which, relative to its body length, is about 22 times the speed of former Olympic sprinter Michael Johnson,^[1] the equivalent of a human running at 480 miles per hour (770 km/h). 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^[2].

Cicindela aurofasciata from India, showing the large eyes and mandibles

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 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 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^[3].

Tiger beetles have been considered as good indicator species and have been used in ecological studies on biodiversity. Several species of wingless parasitic wasps in the genus Methocha (family Tiphiidae), lay their eggs on larvae of various Cicindela spp., such as Cicindela dorsalis.^[4]

Systematics

Museum specimen of Manticora sp. from Mozambique.

The rare Salt Creek Tiger Beetle, Cicindela nevadica lincolniana

Tiger beetles were traditionally classified as the family Cicindelidae but most authorities now treat them as the subfamily Cicindelinae of the Carabidae (ground beetles). The most recent classifications, however, have relegated them to a monophyletic subgroup within the subfamily Carabinae, though this is not yet universally accepted. Accordingly, there is no consensus classification for this group, at any level from family down to subspecies, and it can be exceedingly difficult to decipher the taxonomic literature surrounding this group.

Very many were described by the German entomologist Walther Horn. The genera of tiger beetles include:^[5]

• 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
• 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
• 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
• Eucallia Guerin-Meneville, 1844
• Eunota Rivalier, 1954
• Euprosopus Dejean, 1825
• Euryarthron Guerin-Meneville, 1849
• Eurymorpha Hope, 1838
• Euzona Rivalier, 1963
• Grandopronotalia W. Horn, 1936
• Guineica Rivalier, 1963
• Habrodera Motschulsky, 1862
• Habroscelimorpha Dokhtouroff, 1883
• Heptodonta Hope, 1838
• Hypaetha Leconte, 1860
• Iresia Dejean, 1831
• Jansenia Chaudoir, 1865
• Langea W. Horn, 1901
• Leptognatha Rivalier, 1963
• Lophyra Motschulsky, 1859
• Macfarlandia Sumlin, 1981
• Manautea Deuve, 2006
• Mantica Kolbe, 1896
• Manticora Fabricius, 1792
• 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
• 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
• 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
• Therates Latreille, 1816
• Thopeutica Schaum, 1861
• Tricondyla Latreille, 1822
• Vata Fauvel, 1903
• Waltherhornia Olsoufieff, 1934

Many of the genera result from the splitting of the large genus Cicindela.

Cicindela chinensis

Footnotes

1. ^ Cornell News, Jan. 16, 1998 When tiger beetles chase prey at high speeds they go blind temporarily, Cornell entomologists learn
2. ^ Pearson, D.L. & F. Cassola, 2005
3. ^ Werner, K. 2000
4. ^ 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
5. ^ "Cicindelinae Latreille, 1802". Carabidae of the World. 2011. http://carabidae.pro/carabidae/cicindelinae.html. Retrieved 28 Jun 2011. 

Bibliography

• 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, n°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, volumes 13 [1], 15 [2], 18 [3] & 20 [4] by Karl Werner, Sciences Nat, Venette, 1991, 1992, 1993 & 1995.

External links

• Cicindela Online
• http://homepage3.nifty.com/trechinae/cicinw.htm (Japanese)
• 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.