Insect Identification

Factual Questions
1

Youse guys were so good at the last one, I’ll give you another chance; anyone know what this beetle is?

http://www.cirrusimage.com/Beetles/mystery_beetle.jpg

Photographed near Chicago, in August. Approximately 3/8" long, attacking a spotted cucumber beetle - so it’s a carnivore.
Thanks in advance for yer efforts!
Nick

2

Looks more like a hymenopteran (ant, wasp, etc) than a beetle.

3

Tiger Beetle, almost certainly. Can’t give you the species off the top of my head though. I’ll look around.

  • Tamerlane
4

Well, I just looked at a couple hundred photos on the web and came up blank. But that means nothing - It’s a very speciose group, with dozens ( maybe hundreds ) of species in the U.S… This one is probably in the genus Cicindela, which is pretty huge ( one site listed 850 species ).

But all Tiger Beetles have that big head, with large eyes, and massive mandibles. Many are very bright-colored ( many are metallic ) and most are very active, fast-moving predators, which are hard to shoot. Kudos on the picture :).

  • Tamerlane
5

You know, I take it back - It’s a Checkered Beetle, family Cleridae, in the genus Enoclerus ( easy mistake looking at just the back, I tell you! just look at the photos! :smiley: ). They are indeed predatory.

Take a gander: http://troyb.com/photo/gallery/087-17-CheckeredBeetle.htm

  • Tamerlane
6

And on third thought, I won’t absolutely guarantee it is Enoclerus ( though it’s a decent bet ), but it IS some kind of Clerid - The pubescence on the body is a good clue to that as well.

There are 30-odd genera and 300-odd species in North America.

  • Tamerlane
7

Look here.

8

Yeah, okay so it wasn’t Enoclerus - But Thanasimus would have been my next bet ;).

Good find Demostylus.

  • Tamerlane
9

Well, you put me on the right track, Tamerlane. Until you said Clerid, I was still thinking Mutillid.

10

Wow! You did it! Man, you would not believe how many damn beetle sites I looked at over the last few months. Words cannot express my gratitude.

When I get the page finished, I’ll leave the url here. I’ll give you two credit for identifying it for me.

Thanks, Tamerlane and Demostylus.

Nick

11

Wow in return, Nickrz, those photos are absolutely fantastic.

12

Thanks, Desmo. Check it out: