The Star of the Run!

This very handsome beetle is predominantly dark red all over its body, but there is a slight greenish sheen, as well as incomplete stripes of yellowish white across the wing cases. The underside is metallic green in colour. The family of tiger beetles can be recognised by their long curved mandibles, their large eyes and their long legs.

Tiger beetles are hunters and can see their prey quite easily with their large eyes. They are only able to hunt when the surface temperature of the ground reaches 28°C. This is about the same temperature at which their prey begins to move, and tiger beetles are able to pursue their victims easily with their long legs. One suggestion is that, unusually for insects, some tiger beetles have binocular vision; their field of view overlaps forward of the insect, allowing it to judge distances and speeds. This would give them a big advantage over their victims.

The beetles breed in mid-summer and the larvae may spend the winter in a half-grown state. Adults emerge in the mid-summer and over-winter before breeding which suggests a total life span of two years. The larvae are predatory, like the adult beetle, and the species is able to fly well

This insect is found throughout most of Europe except the north, but in the UK, its range is confined to coastal sites in Lancashire and Cumbria. There are records from North Wales and East Anglia, but the latter have been presumed to be those of a closely related species, C. maritima. The northern dune tiger beetle and C. maritima were once considered to be the same species.

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