Facts
Adults
Tiger Beetles are incredibly fast
and agile (Spomer et al. 2008), and are commonly the dominant
arthropod predators in most ecosystems (Kinsley and Juliano
1988).The genus Omus is one of the least known genera of all
Tiger Beetles (Pearson et al. 2005). Carabid beetles, family of
Omus californicus form a large taxonomic group. The size of this
group exceeds over 40,000 species which are found all throughout
the world (Kinsley and Juliano 1988). The only locations these
organisms have not been located in Hawaii, Antartica, the
Maldives, or Tasmania (Pearson et al. 2005) Between the
countless species around the world there are over 100 species
found in North America alone (Kinsley and Juliano 1988).
As a part of the suborder Adephaga, the California
Night-stalking Tiger Beetle, has an abdominal pygidial defense
gland; these glands produce chemical compounds to ward off
predators (Pearson et al. 1988). Although most Tiger Beetles
produce a defensive secreation known as benzaldehyde, Omus
californicus produces phenylacetic acid to evade predation
(Pearson et al. 1988). This is just one of the many evolutionary
adaptations that have evolved to better allow Tiger Beetles the
greatest chance at survival.
Another interesting adaptation is that Tiger Beetles have the
abitlity to move quickly throughout the environment (Spomer et
al. 2008). When chasing prey, these beetles dart and stop in
repeated while on the attack, unsual for most predators
(Friedlander 1998, Gilbert 1997). During this stop-and-go hunt,
Tiger Beetles can reach a maxium speeds of 2.5 seconds per meter
which is nearly 125 body lengths of the beetle per second
(Friedlander 1998). However, this agility comes at a cost; in
pursuit of prey, Tiger Beetles momentarily lose the sense of
sight (Friedlander 1998). As explained by Cole Gilbert,
professor of entomolgy at Cornell University, when the Tiger
Beetle chases prey at high speeds, the beetle cannot gather
enough photons to create the image of the prey they are chasing
(Friedlander 1998). Overall, the incredibly quick pursuit
underminds the beetle's nervous system's ability to process the
image motion of hte prey also referred to as reafference
(Gilbert 1997).The momentary stop Tiger Beetles take during
attacks on prey lasts just long enough for the beetle to relocalize
the prey and dash toward the organism (Gilbert 1997).
Page Created by Alex Marquardt