Oregon Tiger Beetle - one of my favourites.

I became fascinated with tiger beetles when I was a boy in Ontario.  We lived on a military base with a vast sandy training area.  You could find them on hot summer days racing across the surface, and if you chased one, it would take to the wing and fly away.  They never flew very far, but approaching one never paid off because of their excellent vision.

These adult beetles are fast runners and capable flyers.  They can often be found in sandy areas; you can tell that the above photo was taken on sand.  Beaches are a common habitat for them, which is exactly where I photographed the one above.

I have never seen their larvae.  From the research I did, I understand that they live in burrows and ambush any potential prey that happens to be within reach.  They have very odd dorsal hooks mid-body that secure the creature to their vertical tunnel; the pair of recurved spines prevent the larva from being pulled out, either by the prey or by a would-be predator.  Click here if you want to see for yourself.

In the world of insect predators, tiger beetles are perhaps the most fierce.  They are fast runners and flyers as adults and have remarkable jaws capable of dispatching prey larger than themselves.  The larvae are no less amazing.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com