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Cicindela patruela
Photographed while eating an ant. Common habitat is dry, sandy soils within mixed pine forest, including abandoned roads, old sand pits, and eroded slopes. Some subspecies of this beetle are rare and have been extirpated from parts of their range due to habitat destruction.
Spotted hunting on rock outcroppings on a ridgetop in Rocky Ridge Natural Area in Huntingdon County, PA. Mixed-oak woodland with exposures of Oriskany sandstone and limestone.
For more info on this species: http://acris.nynhp.org/guide.php?id=3714... http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr...
3 Comments
Thanks Laurie. Yes, I'm surprised I got so close too.
I'm impressed with your close up photo! I guess it was distracted while eating.
I've never seen a Tiger Beetle eating an ant before but I've seen Tiger Beetles being attacked by ants instead.