To catch a tiger

 

A few weeks ago, Eric's patience paid off with this close-up photo of a Hairy-necked Tiger Beetle (Cicindela hirticollis) at Limantour Beach.  

Tiger beetles can be "flighty" -- as you approach (somewhat like a bird), they'll let you get only-so-close and then they'll take off and fly away, landing not-too-far-away, but far enough away that you have to try again.  But with some practice and some patience and some slowing down, sometimes you can spend some time with them -- appreciating their color patterns, iridescence, hairiness, and interesting behaviors.

Pale beauty -- Part 2

 

 

Well, it looks like I'm going to run out of time tonight for writing more about Northeastern Beach Tiger Beetles (Habroscelimorpha dorsalis).  But I was able to sort through some photos, so here's a selection of my favorites from yesterday (photos taken on 20 September 2023).

 

Things to look for:

- very long legs

- mostly pale elytra (wing covers)

- bronze/green iridescence (especially on the thorax and legs)

- bright white labrum (the "lip" area)

- white mandibles with black tips 

- gray/purplish eyes (depending on the light and the angle)

We observed these beetles on dry sand (first and last photos), but also on wet sand/mud.  It was fun to see how their pale wing covers made them look like little bits of shell.  [You can click on the images for larger and sharper versions.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here's a nice one from Eric:

 

If you'd like to learn more about this species, check out this fact sheet from the Massachusetts Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program.

 

Pale beauty

 

 

I'll share more about this species soon, but I'm running out of time tonight, so I'll post this photo of Eric's for now...because it's so spectacular!

 

Meet the Northeastern Beach Tiger Beetle (Habroscelimorpha dorsalis, formerly Cicindela dorsalis).

 

Photographed in Chatham, Massachusetts, on 20 September 2023.

  

Tigers along the river

  

We're on our way to Oregon, where Eric will be giving a talk at the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology.  Stopping for a lunch break today (26 October 2022) we ended up on the South Fork of the Eel River near Phillipsville, CA.  

Eric snapped a few quick photos of some beautiful Western Tiger Beetles (Cicindela oregona) along the shoreline.

 

 

 Nicely done, Eric!

Beach denizens

  

Eric and I made a quick trip out to the outer beach on Point Reyes yesterday (5 June 2021).  A few fun beach invertebrate highlights included this Red-backed Jumping Spider (Phidippus johnsoni) hanging out in a large piece of driftwood (above), a nice look at some Western Tiger Beetles (Cicindela oregona) along the upper beach near a freshwater seep :

 

 

 

Noticeably abundant amphipods, or beach hoppers, feeding on drift algae washed up along the strand line:

 

 

 

 

And a Pictured Rove Beetle (Thinopinus pictus) feeding on the aforementioned amphipods (!):

 

 

 

Another tiger

Back on 15 August 2020, I posted some photos of Hairy-necked Tiger Beetles (Cicindela hirticollis) from Point Reyes.  Here's another picture from that day:

 

Recently, I was sorting through some photos taken a week earlier (8 August 2020) from the same beach, but the beetles I photographed that day looked different.

Below is an example from 8 August 2020.  Compare the patterning on the wing covers between the beetle above and the beetle below:

 

Did you notice how the first beetle has much more extensive markings?  Each of the areas — the shoulder (closer to the neck), the middle (the marking that looks a bit like a musical eighth note), and the tail end are more robust in the first beetle.  Note especially that along the edge of the wing cover, the middle marking extends both forward and backward creating a line along the margin.

I'm guessing the second beetle is a Western Tiger Beetle (Cicindela oregona).  I don't encounter tiger beetles as often in the Bodega Head area, so I hadn't realized these two species could co-occur.  It's always informative to look closely!

P.S.  Thank you, firefighters, for working so tirelessly in our behalf!

Across the hot sand

It was so hot today that we made our way to the coast for a swim.  On our walk along the beach, there were an impressive number of tiger beetles.  

Some of the beetles were hot, too, as you can see by their behavior — standing on tiptoes to avoid the hot sand:

 

Identifying different tiger beetles means getting a look at the markings on their backs (wing covers).  Note that this species is very well marked — at the shoulder (close to the neck), along the margin, in the middle, and at the tail end.  Here's a beetle on the open sand, and a second feeding along the wrack line:

 

 

We also saw quite a few mated pairs:

 

I haven't been lucky enough to see too many species of tiger beetles in California yet, but I'm going to go ahead and say that I think these are Hairy-necked Tiger Beetles (Cicindela hirticollis).  [If you think otherwise, feel free to let me know!]  Photographed near Drake's Estero on 15 August 2020.

A day at the beach

Just a few photo highlights from a walk on South Beach in Chatham, Massachusetts, on 25 September 2013.  In order of appearance:

 

 Palm Warbler (Setophaga palmarum)

 

Wandering Glider (Pantala flavescens)

 

Tiger beetle, possibly a Hairy-necked Tiger Beetle (Cicindela sp., possibly Cicindela hirticollis).  [I don't have access to a field guide at the moment!  I'll correct this if I learn otherwise.]

 

Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) with avian prey (and trailing a dried eelgrass blade).

 

Gray Seal (Halichoerus grypus)

 

Very large unidentified ray actively feeding in shallow water near shore.  This ray was at least 4-5 feet across!  That's one tip of a pectoral fin raised above the surface.  The white coloration below the water is the ventral surface exposed whenever the ray pivoted.

 

Horned Larks (Eremophila alpestris)

 

It was a beautiful day at the beach!

Horseshoes, foxgloves, and tigers!

Just a few more photos from our last day on Cape Cod.

A view looking along the outer beach on South Beach in Chatham, MA.

 

The inside of South Beach is much more wave-protected. There we encountered lots of juvenile Atlantic Horseshoe Crabs (Limulus polyphemus) creating trails on the surface of the sandflats.

 

A kettle pond on the Outer Cape.

 

Some of the plants along the shorelines of these coastal plain ponds are adapted to fluctuating water levels (similar to vernal pools).  One of these is Purple Gerardia or Purple False Foxglove (Agalinis purpurea, formerly Gerardia purpurea).

 

We also spotted a few tiger beetles in warm, sunny spots along the sandy edges of the pond.  Below is a photo of a Bronzed Tiger Beetle (Cicindela repanda).

 

Note the large eyes and very long legs.  Tiger beetles are active predators, running after prey such as ants and flies.

Earlier in the day we found a different species, a Margined Tiger Beetle (Cicindela marginata) near a salt marsh in Wellfleet.

 

The sickle-shaped and serrated mandibles of tiger beetles are a little frightening when seen up close (next photo), but they're generally not strong enough to hurt people.

 

Here's a Western Tiger Beetle (Cicindela oregona) photographed in the Bodega Dunes in April 2006.

 

The maculations (markings) on the wing covers are important for identifying tiger beetles.  If you see one, pay close attention to the sizes and shapes of the stripes and spots.