Tiger Beetle Safari

Tiger Beetles are my favorite type of beetle! Entomologist John Acorn got me hooked on these little guys. They live across the country in various habitats, so you may not need to travel far to go on a Tiger Beetle Safari of your own!

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• wildlife
• nature
• beetle
• tiger
• safari
• schriemer
• peter
• beyondyourdoorstep

[RagingFreedom360]

Hi peter, I was wondering exactly were you found the tiger beetles. I have a guess that it was at hidden beach, Galiano island, Canada were the place is just crawling with them because the background looks exactly like it! Any ways I'd like to know were you found them!

[PeterSchriemer]

@RagingFreedom360 I found the beetles in this particular segment on a privately-owned beach near Cedarville, Michigan in the Upper Peninsula - which looks a lot like Canada. Dunes and beaches all around the Great Lakes on both sides of the border have great tiger beetles spots. Thanks for asking! :-)

[bellkyss88]

It makes me sad to say this, but I just killed a tiger beetle. I thought it was a roach running across the floor, I got jumpy and stepped on it. :(

I went on the internet to figure out what strange insect it was and found it was a tiger beetle. Are they even dangerous?

[PeterSchriemer]

@bellkyss88 No, not dangerous at all. They have big jaws, but they only use them on their prey (small insects and invertebrates). They'll bite if you hold one in your hand - but even that only pinches the skin. They have no interest in going after people, and their response is to always run away.

[IRideDolphinsNaked]

what kind of prey could I feed one? I have a six spotted tiger beetle and I dont know what to feed it. Could they eat calcium bug gels (water supplement for crickets) ass a water source?

[PeterSchriemer]

You can feed Tiger Beetles anything that crawls and is smaller than the beetle itself. Small crickets are a good choice, but soaked dry dog food works well too. In terms of the bug gels, I've never tried them, but the beetles need to suck moisture out of something. I usually put a wet paper towel in an upside down jar lid. You could try the bug gels, but I'd also have the wet paper towel - so the beetle will have water no matter what. The Six-Spotted is a great beetle!

[Trevizdabomb]

@PeterSchriemer Hey do you think they are found at the beach of the south-western united states? Like San Diego or Los Angeles? Or any type of tiger beetle in the south-western united states?

[Entomofauna]

Nice vid - looks lile Lophyra flexuosa not?

nice guy too

A shame that my PC don't have sound card

[valerio3c]

hello, I live in italy, if someone can send me a pair of every species of Cicindelidae offer or exchange something with Carabidae Italians, if we use the phrase in Italian answer thanks

[slayer011]

They´re not REALLY faster than the cheetah. its just that since they can run up to 8 km/hr and they are so small, it can be assumed that if you compare size to speed ratios then they are faster. But technically a cheetah is A LOT faster.

It´s like talking about the jump of a flee. if you compare it to us, like before size ratio, their jump would be the equivalent to us jumping over skyscrapers. But again, they aren´t technically the highest jumpers.

[StableGirl105]

did you know that tigr beetles are technically the fastest land animal!!??!!??! Yea it's true!! Their faster than cheetahs!! But if you don't believe me, look them up in wikipedia and then you'll know what I'm talking about!!

[huntergee2]

thanks