Tiger Beetles Are Faster Than YOU!

These incredible predators of the insect world help to keep "things" in balance. They are part of the largest animals group on earth: beetles - which comprise of over 300,000 species. Beetles eat many things from rotting corpses to flower petals.  Tiger beetles, as predators, keep grasshopper, caterpillar and other insect populations in check. They are also prey to dragonflies, frogs, bird and small animals.

These guys can run as fast as 2.5m/sec! That is equivalent to 100 times there body length/second. If you compare that to the fastest human sprinter who clocks in at about 6 times his body length/second - that's pretty impressive!

Tiger beetles can't maintain a constant internal body temperature so they raise their long legs to create a flow of air under themselves - cooling off their bodies. You'll find them on roads sometimes but they prefer leaves, forests and less disturbed areas. So if you have land - keep it "messy" - i.e. natural - that way nature can survive. And since humans are part of nature also, both humans and tiger beetles will have a future two-gether. They can live without us, but can we live without them?