Day 396#: Puritan Tiger Beetle
Today's animal of the day is the Puritan Tiger Beetle (Ellipsoptera puritana)!
Photo credit: Steve Collins
This endangered species of predatory beetle is found in just three states within the northeastern region of the United States: Connecticut, Maryland, and Massachusetts. They prefer to inhabit either sandy or rocky beaches, such as those surrounding Chesapeake Bay or along the Colorado River. Interestingly, the exact type of habitat, as well as their behavior, depends on which state they are found in. Those in Connecticut and Massachusetts prefer to live near the water's edge on sandy beaches, while those in Maryland prefer narrower stretches of beaches that are up against rocky cliffs.
Photo credit: Chris Rorabaugh
Adult Puritan tiger beetles are around 0.56 inches long with either bronze or greenish-brown wings with pale markings and long black legs. They spend much of their time on the ground, searching for small insects like ants, flies, and fleas to eat, as well as any other small invertebrate. They've also been known to occasionally scavenge on the carcasses of already dead fish and crabs. The mature beetles capture their prey by chasing after them with their long legs and then grabbing them with their jaws in a very "tiger-like" manner, hence their name.
Photo credit: Sloan Tomlinson
The larvae of this species are also predatory, but they need to stay within the burrows that their mothers dug and laid their eggs in. So, instead of chasing after their prey, they attach themselves to the entrance to their burrows and wait until prey walks by before quickly grabbing and then dragging them back into their burrows. This larval form lasts around 22 months, and after that, they will pupate and then emerge as their adult forms around the end of June. It takes another two years for the adult beetles to reach sexual maturity. Sadly, wild females typically die after mating and producing one (or rarely more) offspring. However, in captivity they can survive for much longer and are capable of producing around 100 offspring!
Photo credit: Rick Rosalie
These beetles are sadly endangered nowadays due to the vast majority of their habitat having been destroyed by human development. While some populations are around a few thousand strong, others, such as the one at Massachusetts' Rainbow Beach, have as few as just 60 remaining adult individuals. In addition to habitat loss, these beetles are also often preyed upon by parasitic wasps, which go after their larvae, as well as competition from the very similar-looking bronzed tiger beetle. Thankfully, the species is protected under the Endangered Species Act, and a recovery plan was made in 1993 to help protect the remaining patches of habitat for these beetles as well as help restore beaches where they have gone locally extinct so that they may one day be reintroduced there.
