I'm surprised not many keepers have tiger beetles, specifically those in the Cicindela genus. I have 4 in a tub with sand mixed with dirt as well as a heat lamp on top since they apparently like basking on the rock. Any reason these aren't common at all in the hobby? They come in alot of colors and eat like crazy and are super fun to watch.
Tiger Beetles
- Thread starter Montgg
- Start date
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2010
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- 2,229
I suspect it's a combination of two factors: lack of availability and short adult life span.
Personally, I'd love to try some tiger beetles - but I don't believe I have ever seen them offered for sale, and I have not been lucky enough to catch them myself.
And then there's that whole life cycle thing. Like many beetles, they have a very long larval stage - followed by a very short adult life. Even if they were offered for sale, would it really be worth it to pay for the beetles plus shipping, just to have them die after a few weeks or months? At least their larvae are more interesting than my Dynastes grubs, though! I still might give 'em a shot if I ever got the chance, in the hopes that I could get them to mate and reproduce.
they are awesome,very short lifespans which kinda sucks,but still fun to keep(ive kept them aswell) there is a larger sp. the great plains tiger beetle(amblychielia)which are longer lived and a blast to keep,bt alittle on the uncommon side,but with alot of searching somebody may have some availible here and there,i would look into those,and there is also omus sp. too alittle smaller still very cool and alittle more common and hardy too. uh, i have to ad this the giant south african tiger beetle(the holy grail) manchicora(spelling),which i want really bad.
