TIGER BEETLES OF INDIAIDENTIFICATION AND BIOLOGY OF THE CICINDELIDAE

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This Field Guide to the Tiger Beetles of India is the first definitive identification guide to all 241 species of tiger beetles known to occur in India. Its descriptions of habitats, behaviour, and ecology make available a group of spectacular insects for both amateur enthusiasts and professional biologists to observe and study. In addition to their value as a hobby, with this field guide tiger beetles can now better serve as a valuable tool for understanding general patterns of biodiversity, biogeography, and conservation within India. Featured in this field guide are:

· A list of common names· The latest taxonomic revisions · Thirty-two colour plates with images of all Indian species and subspecies· Identification keys and general descriptions of species characteristics· Distribution maps with the known range of each species within India· Current knowledge of biology and seasonality

A FIELD GUIDE TO THE

David L. Pearson | Jürgen Wiesner Robert E. Acciavatti | V. P. Uniyal

Alexander Anichtchenko

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A/c No. : 20099702472Beneficiary : M/s Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal SinghBank Name : Bank of MaharashtraBranch Name : DAI Chakrata Road, Dehra Dun, Bank IFS Code : MAHB0001015

From North and South America to Asia and Australia a passion for tiger beetles has

taken many otherwise normal people into an exciting hobby. These enthusiasts can

be found on weekends and holidays searching for tiger beetles along sandy ocean

beaches, on the floor of teak plantations, and across alpine meadows. Others can be

found crawling on elbows and knees in the piercing heat of Rajasthan for close-up

photos of a green species. A few sit or kneel patiently on the white sands of a Goa

ocean beach taking notes about the foraging behavior of a long-legged tiger beetle

running in amongst sun bathing tourists.

Tiger beetles elicit a passion in people that can last a life time. Only a few of

these tiger beetle devotees are professional entomologists. Most are non-scientists,

such as bankers, lawyers, and policemen, who are passionate enough about their

hobby to fill their weekends, vacations, and any time off with pursuits of six-legged

adventure and discovery.

Reasons for this passion about tiger beetles are varied, but all seem to be

surrounded by mystery. There is likely to be some kind of physical attraction

produced by tiger beetles, but it difficult to define exactly what it is and how it has

captured the interest of so many people regardless of whether they are being paid

for it or not. All we know is that this depth of interest and curiosity is not logical.

You have to personally encounter tiger beetles to discover if this passion lies inside

you, too. For some, it is seeing a group of spectacularly-coloured specimens pinned

in perfect rows in a glass-topped insect drawer. For many others, it is noticing a

live tiger beetle for the first time as a flash of bright color along a forested path, or

perhaps pursuing several, gaudy individuals along a river bank, or suddenly spying

a cryptically coloured specimen in some other place that you may have been taken

for granted until this moment. Whatever first caught a person’s attention, we know

that people with an interest in tiger beetles have felt fulfilled in the pursuit of their

passion, even if the uninitiated may see it as little more than an obsession.

The main reason we wanted to write this field guide was to persuade others

that tiger beetles are special. The book should energize an interest in tiger beetles

by amateurs and professionals alike because it serves as the first combined source of

illustrated identification, natural history, and distribution for all the species of tiger

beetles known to occur in India.

To organize this book we relied on popular styles of tiger beetle field guides

previously published from other parts of the world. These guides have proven to be

an important means to popularize more technical material developed by specialists

and communicate information to a wider audience of amateur readers. The two

publications we most heavily relied on were A Field Guide to the Tiger Beetles of the

1The Appeal of Tiger Beetles

209

5mm

5mm

5mm 5mm

5mm

Plate 1

12

34

5

A Field Guide to the Tiger Beetles of India: Identification and Biology of the Cicindelidae

208

Metallic Tiger Beetles and Arboreal Tiger Beetles

Metallic Tiger Beetles, Grammognatha 1 Eurasian Metallic Tiger Beetle, Grammognatha euphratica Widespread in southern Europe and southwestern Asia, rare in northwest desert of India. Large, robust, metallic green with maroon reflections. Large yellow spot on back half of each elytron, legs yellow. (p.30)

Arboreal Tiger Beetles, Tricondyla 2 Pleated Arboreal Tiger Beetle, Tricondyla femorata Southern India and Sri Lanka. Black and shiny. Long cylinder-like thorax with slight constriction at neck. Elytra with fine wrinkles running across width. (p. 32)

3 Satin Arboreal Tiger Beetle, Tricondyla gounellei Endemic to southern India. Black and velvet-like. Long cylinder-like thorax with slight constriction at neck. Elytra with shallow, uniform pits. (p. 32)

4 Thick-necked Arboreal Tiger Beetle, Tricondyla macrodera Northeastern India to Vietnam. Brown and shiny. Relatively short and thick thorax with deep constriction at neck. Elytra wrinkled on front half and smooth towards rear. (p. 33)

5 Lumpy Arboreal Tiger Beetle, Tricondyla tuberculata Northeastern India to Myanmar. Dull black to dark brown. Relatively short thorax with moderate constriction at neck. Elytra deeply wrinkled in front and distinctly pitted towards rear. (p. 33)

Plate 1

A Field Guide to the Tiger Beetles of India: Identification and Biology of the Cicindelidae

8

the most commonly used identification characters to distinguish the majority of

tiger beetle species. These elytra characters include: 1) a variety of surface textures

(microsculpture) that include large individual punctures (foveae), patterns of small

pits (punctation), grooves (rugae), smooth (impunctate) areas, or raised areas

(undulations) and tiny saw-like teeth (microserrations) and spines on the rear edge

of the elytra; 2) shape viewed from above (parallel-sided, rounded, oval); 3) profile

viewed from the side (domed, flattened); 4) dark background colour and texture

(shiny, metallic, dull); 5) the pattern, colour, and position of spots, lines and stripes

(maculations) or their absence (immaculate).

The flight wings are membranous with a distinctive framework of thickened

ridges (veins). Modifications of vein structures allow for a triple folding so that the

flight wings can be stored completely under the elytra. In some flightless species,

these flight wings are shrunk or even totally absent with permanently fused elytra.

The prominent and protruding legs (Fig. 2.3) of tiger beetles are thin, and

long for fast running. Leg colour, setae abundance (thick or sparse), position along

segments, and type (erect or flattened, straight or hooked) and relative leg size

(both to the overall size of the tiger beetle, as well as, between the lengths of the

several segments comprising the same leg) are sometimes important as identifying

characters. Males of all species have thickened white pads of long curved setae on

several of their segmented feet (tarsi) of the front legs.

Figure 2.2 Body (dorsal view)

of adult tiger beetles with

structures identified ((Reprinted

from Tiger Beetles: The evolution,

ecology and diversity of the

cicindelids, by Pearson & Vogler

© 2001 by Cornell University.

Used by permission of the

publisher, Cornell University

Press).

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Species Accounts

Subfamily Collyrinae, Tribe CollyriniArboreal Tiger Beetles, genus TricondylaThese long, narrow beetles are all blackish, flightless with fused elytra, and primarily

arboreal and diurnal. They are limited to moist forests and resemble large ants. Some

species are remarkably mimicked by late instar grasshoppers. They run up and down

the trunks of trees and move to the opposite side of the tree when threatened by a

predator. When pressed by danger, they will fall to the ground and remain still in the

leaf litter. They also move between trees by walking across the ground. Larval burrows

have been found in the bark of large trees, and the larvae are active primarily at night.

The 48 species of this genus occur throughout southeastern Asia to northern Australia.

Four species are known from India, one of which is endemic there.Key I: Arboreal Tiger Beetles, genus Tricondyla

Identification Key to Tricondyla Species1a. Pronotum with the sides parallel as far as the apical constriction (Fig. 6.1) 21b. Pronotum with the sides more or less

widened and rounded, and more or less convergent before the apical constriction (Fig. 6.2)

3

2a. (1a.) Pronotum strongly striated transversely Pleated Arboreal Tiger Beetle, Tricondyla femorata

2b. Pronotum finely striated transverselySatin Arboreal Tiger Beetle, Tricondyla gounellei

3a. (1b.) Elytral sculpture strong and granularLumpy Arboreal Tiger Beetle, Tricondyla tuberculata

3b. Elytral sculpture moderately shallow, formed by transverse wrinkles in the anterior half, apex nearly smooth

Thick-necked Arboreal Tiger Beetle, Tricondyla macrodera

Figure 6.1 Sides of thorax (pronotum) relatively parallel and straight-sided. Figure 6.2 Sides of thorax (pronotum)

conspicuously widened and rounded.

A Field Guide to the Tiger Beetles of India: Identification and Biology of the Cicindelidae

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Subfamily Cicindelinae, Tribe MegacephaliniMetallic Tiger Beetles, genus Grammognatha

Many authors treat Megacephala as a Pantropical genus. Others, however, restrict the name Megacephala to several species in Africa. We follow these experts and treat representatives of this group in Asia as a member of the distinct genus Grammognatha. All Metallic Tiger Beetles are primarily nocturnal, and adults of most species are flightless or fly only weakly. Adults tend to be highly colourful with bodies of metallic copper, blue and green predominating. Their legs, antennae and mouth parts are usually yellowish. Only a single species occurs in Europe, North Africa and southwest Asia. Some species of this group hear sounds of prey calling from underground and have been proposed as natural control of pests such as mole-crickets.

Eurasian Metallic Tiger Beetle, Grammognatha euphratica (Latreille and Dejean) (Plate 1) [Map 1]

Identification: Length 18 - 22.5 mm. Body robust with the upper surface metallic green with maroon reflections. A large ovoid yellow area covers the back one-third of each elytron. The antennae, legs, and palpi are yellowish. The heavy mandibles are yellow with blackish tips. Unlikely to be confused with any other species in India.

Subspecies and morphological variants: The inland southwest Asia population that exists in northern India as blue individuals is often assigned to the subspecies G. e. armenica.

Distribution and habitats: Spain and Morocco east across northern Africa and southern Europe to southwestern Asia. In India this species is known only from Agra (Uttar Pradesh). Occurs along coastal salt flats and inland salt marshes and oases.

Behaviour: Adults are active only at night, and although they have wings, they rarely use them. They can most frequently be seen running along wet sand beaches and muddy flats at night. They are attracted to night lights. The larvae are known only from captive breeding, but presumably both larvae and adults occur in similar habitats.

Seasonality: Adult activity in southwest Asia is limited to the warm, wet monsoon season from July to September.

Map 1 Eurasian Metallic Tiger Beetle, Grammognatha euphratica.

Year : 2020, Pages : viii, 316, ISBN : 978-81-211-0933-8 Binding : Soft Bound, Size : Demi, Price : Indian Rs 695.00

The order for the book “ A Field Guide to the Tiger Beetles of India Identification and Biology of the Cicindelidae” can be sent by Post, Phone, Fax or E-mail to M/s Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, 23 A Connaught Place, Dehra Dun 248001, Uttarakhand, INDIA, Ph: +91 135 2715748, Fax: +91 135 2715107, Email: bsmpsbooks@gmail.com

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David L. Pearson is a Research Professor at the Arizona State University, Tempe, USA. He has conducted research on tiger beetle ecology, biogeography, and their uses in mathematical modelling worldwide. For six years he ran field studies on these beetles throughout India in

cooperation with professors and students from Chandigarh (Panjab University) and Bengalaru (University of Agricultural Sciences).

Jürgen Wiesner is a retired Section Manager for Volkswagen Group in Wolfsburg, Germany. He is one of the world’s leading taxonomists on tiger beetles and has published more than 150 articles on this group of beetles. He is presently writing the 2nd edition of the Checklist of the Tiger Beetles of the World.

Robert E. Acciavatti is a retired Forest Entomologist from the US Forest Service. He presently is a Research Associate in the Invertebrate Zoology Section of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, USA. He has published numerous taxonomic articles on tiger beetles from Asia and the Americas.

V. P. Uniyal is a Senior Professor and Scientist-G in the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. He has been involved in ecological studies on high altitude insect diversity and identifying insects, including tiger beetles, as indicators for biodiversity monitoring in protected areas of northern India.

His studies on insect conservation in the Himalayan region have provided many new insights into their biology and usefulness in management plans.

Alexander Anichtchenko is a Senior Scientific Investigator and Curator of the Coleoptera Collection in the Institute of Life Sciences and Technologies, Daugavpili, Latvia. He was also the scientific illustrator in the Publishing House of the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales de Madrid,

Spain, and produced the colour plates in this field guide. He has published several taxonomic articles on tiger beetles and is author of the international web project “Carabidae of the World”, http://www.carabidae.org.

M/s Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, Publishers & Distributors of Scientific Books, 23-A, New Connaught Place, P.O. Box 137, Dehra Dun-248001, Uttarakhand, INDIA, Ph.: 0135-2715748, Fax: 91-135-2715107, E-mail: bsmpsbooks@gmail.com

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