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Ferocious Tiger Beetle!
Unlike many other beetles, tiger beetles are active in broad daylight and are fast runners and fliers. They have large bulging eyes, and huge curved jaws. THEY COME IN EVERY COLOR OF THE RAINBOW! The 2,000 species of tiger beetles come in almost any color ranging from the bright red, daytime active bugs to the jet-black, nocturnal creatures. Many of them wear an iridescent or metallic body with armor-like wings. The "plain Jane" species looks like a common beetle with a grayish brown body and white spots on its wings. However, the tiger beetle has a wider head than his cousin the ordinary beetle. WHAT’S IN A NAME? The tiger beetle got its name due to the brutal way it catches and eats other insects. When it crushes an insect in its hook-like jaws, juices are spit out onto its prey. These juices turn its meal into liquid. While squeezing, it sucks in the liquid meal. Because it has excellent eyesight, and is fast, it sometimes catches its victim in mid air. When it chases an insect on the ground, the beetle runs in a zigzag pattern, and gives off a stinky smell. A ROOM WITH A VIEW! Tiger beetles live just about everywhere in the world except on some remote islands. Most of them like hot sunny days on the sandy shores of a tropical ocean. Others love wooded rivers and streams. They dig burrows in the ground, and only come out when the temperature is high enough. They stay underground on cool cloudy days. WOULD YOU LIKE TO RACE A TIGER BEETLE? For its size it has been said that the tiger beetle is the fastest running land animal on earth. The quickest ones travel about 170 times their body length every second. If you could travel 170 times your body length every second, you would be running about 340 miles per hour! The average human runs 12 miles per hour. HOW CAN A POOR BUG SURVIVE? The Tiger Beetle has more enemies than he has friends. Beetles are a tasty treat in the diet of many kinds of birds. Larger insects like dragonflies often munch on the crunchy beetle as well. Amphibians and reptiles have also been known to snack on these beetles. Surprisingly, even animals like badger, fox, moles, mice, opossum, raccoon, skunk, and squirrel consider tiger beetles a tasty treat. Of course, humans too, have developed poisons to kill insects like the tiger beetle. They have been seen crawling into cracks to escape from danger. Adult tiger beetles also squirt a foul smelling, brownish liquid when captured. This acid-like liquid breaks down anything it lands on. Tiger beetles, which live on beaches, are in danger from intruding civilization and vacationers. Many kinds of these beetles are on the endangered species list. Remember that the beach you are enjoying may be some beetle's living room, so tread softly and treat it with respect.
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