Tiger Beetles
The Rannoch Tiger - admittedly not a tiger but a beetle - Cicindela campestris.
In the heat of July when you are walking along the Rannoch forestry tracks you may well catch a movement out of the corner of your eye. That movement could be the rapid flight of a Tiger beetle. Most beetles are cumbersome fliers without manoeuvrability. The tiger beetle, however, is a Coleoptera jet fighter. It lives by the sword. It is a predator on other insects which it hunts in flight.
The beetle is about half an inch long and is green with cream spots. It runs along the ground and springs into the air when it wishes to hunt. Their prey may be ants, spider or larvae of other insects.
The tiger beetle larva lives in a vertical burrow which it digs for itself in sandy soil. It takes two years to develop and feeds by sensing passing prey upon which it pounces. The burrow may be noticeable because of discarded exoskeleton parts of the prey scattered at the entrance.
Photo Creative Commons - credit Olei
