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Headhunter


Headhunter
Photo Information
Copyright: Grzegorz Wieczorek (red45) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2636 W: 74 N: 9091] (31094)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2009-08
Categories: Insects
Camera: Canon EOS 400D, Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 APO DG Macro
Photo Version: Original Version
Theme(s): Tiger beetles (Cicindelidae) of Europe, Tiger beetles (Cicindelidae) of the world [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2009-08-15 10:55
Viewed: 3349
Points: 30
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
After all those cute and sweet butterflies, today something more aggresive - Tiger beetle - a perfect hunter and killer. It is rather hard to get closer to these fast and vigilant insect, but sometimes one got luck.

The tiger beetles are a large group of beetles known for their predatory habits. Some tiger beetles can run at a speed of 8 km/h (5 mph). For its size it has been suggested that they are technically the fastest running land animals.

Tiger beetles often have large bulging eyes, long, slender legs and large curved mandibles. All are predatory, both as adults and as larvae. The genus Cicindela has a cosmopolitan distribution. Other well-known genera include Tetracha, Omus, Amblycheila and Manticora. While members of the genus Cicindela are usually diurnal and may be out on the hottest days, Tetracha, Omus, Amblycheila and Manticora are all nocturnal. Both Cicindela and Tetracha are often brightly colored, while the other genera mentioned are usually uniform black in color.

Tiger beetles in the genus Manticora are the largest in size of the subfamily. These live primarily in the deserts of South Africa.

The larvae of tiger beetles live in cylindrical burrows as much as a meter deep. They are large-headed, hump-backed grubs that flip backwards to capture prey insects that wander over the ground. The fast-moving adults run down their prey and are extremely fast on the wing, their reaction times being of the same order as that of common houseflies. Some tiger beetles in the tropics are arboreal, but most run on the surface of the ground. They live along sea and lake shores, on sand dunes, around playa lakebeds and on clay banks or woodland paths, being particularly fond of sandy surfaces.

Tiger beetles have been considered as good indicator species and have been used in ecological studies on biodiversity. Methocha, a parasitic wingless wasp species lays its eggs on Cicindela dorsalis larvae.

Estimations have shown that the tiger beetle could easily reach speeds of 200-300 mph (320-480 kph) if it was proportionately the size of a Human.

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Vinster, chudy, marius-secan, horias, siggi, jlinaresp, cloud, Noisette, cicindela has marked this note useful
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Critiques [Translate]

Hi Greg
I wonder who would win if your beetle had a fight with the spider I posted today? ;-)
An excellent sharp macro, perhaps just a little bright but very good details - I know from my own experience how difficult it can be to get close to these beetles.
Kind Regards
Vinny

  • Great 
  • chudy Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 130 W: 0 N: 176] (899)
  • [2009-08-15 11:34]

Siemanko Grzesku!
Z wygladu nie jest taki straszny , ale charakterek uuu !
Super ostre zdjatko i dokladnie wszystko widac.
Ogladalem Twoj projekt ogrod , jest swietny .
Gratuluje ,pozdrawiam i zycze milego weekendu.
Slawek

Hello Greg,
An excellent sharp macro, very good details and vivid colours.
Well done!
Marius.

  • Great 
  • PeterZ Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 5137 W: 166 N: 13121] (49139)
  • [2009-08-15 11:49]

Hello Greg,
Splendid tiger beetle with impressive jaws. The colours are very beautiful and the sharpness and details superb. Very nice to see how it stands out against the OOF BG.
Regards,
Peter

  • Great 
  • horias Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 837 W: 58 N: 2084] (11033)
  • [2009-08-15 12:52]

Grzegorz,
Waw, what a wonderful, sharp, and colored capture.
Best regards, Horia

Hi Greg
Wooow..Very beautiful and interesting picture...Also excellent information...Details and colors perfect....Well done and TFS....
Kind regards.
Leyla

Wow, sincerly!I never imagine that you can capture with the camera such details, colors and reflections, like unde the magnifier.
Regards, Oana

  • Great 
  • siggi Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3097 W: 109 N: 12399] (52850)
  • [2009-08-15 14:26]

Hallo Grzegorz,
Swietny okaz w doskonalym swietle tutaj pokazujesz.Super ostrosc i kontrast i bardzo interesujacy opis.Ja chyba go w naturze jeszcze nie spotkalem.Pozdrawiam Siggi

Hello Greg,

Impressive bug, which is pictured here, excellent lighting, use of flash big enough to allow details of the insect, the pilosidades, contour, structure of the wing covers, everything is very well recorded. Excellent photo of this beetle extremely fasf.

TFS!

Jesús

Hi Grzegorz,

Wow, what a beautiful detailed macro shot of the Tiger Beetle!
I like the metallic colored textures of the insect with nice sharpness and taken from a exceptionally well chosen POV.
A superb composition! Very well seen!

thanks and regards,
Paras Bhalla

  • Great 
  • cloud Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 497 W: 111 N: 1535] (9539)
  • [2009-08-15 14:45]

Witaj Grzegorzu,
Ten potworek wyglada groznie, wspaniale makro z doskonala precyzja, zaskakujacy widok kolorystyka i kszaltami. Cale szczescie, ze nie sa wielkie.
Pozdrawiam, Pawel

  •      
  • jignasi Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 2118 W: 0 N: 3424] (27917)
  • [2009-08-15 17:08]

Más ya no se puede pedir . Buena luz y encantadores colores.
Saludos.

Hi Greg

Great shot of this impressive hunter. Superb DOF, sharpness colours and details. Good composition.

Chris

Hello Grzegorz,
Excellent close-up of this beautiful beetle, with amazing tones. Very beautiful razor-sharp details, including the strong mandibles of this predator. Cheers,
Catherine

Hello Grzegorz
a superb shot of this tiger beetle with amazing details and wonderful lighting
the pose and the POV are great, the blurred BG highligts the insect very nicely
Have a good night
Jacqueline

Hehehe! Widze, ze trzyszcze coraz czesciej padaja Twoja ofiara! :)
Bardzo fajna fotka, a przy tym ciekawa notka :)
Pogratulowac tylko! :)
Serdecznosci,
Radek

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