Tiger Beetle Zoom Gallery (Up-close with tiger beetles)

Some of the fastest animals on Earth are below. That’s right, if these tiny insects were as large as a horse they would be running 200 miles an hour. These tiger beetles were captured using a special microscope and software that takes many pictures at different depths and then builds a single sharp image. The work was done at the International Institute for Species Exploration. A special thanks to April Ramirez for her help with this gallery and to David Pearson for loaning these specimens from his personal collection. Images by CJ Kazilek.

Cheilonycha auripennis Bicolored Mound dwelling Tiger Beetle Bolivia	Phaeoxantha klugii Klug’s Xanthine Tiger Beetle Bolivia	Chaetodera albina White Sand Tiger Beetle Northern India	Calochroa octonotata Giant Riverine Tiger Beetle Northern India
Cicindela pulchra Beautiful Tiger Beetle Southwestern USA	Pancallia angulicollis Teak Tiger Beetle South India	Tetracha carolina Carolina Metallic Tiger Beetle Southern North America	Pseudotetracha corpulenta Stout Tiger Beetle Western Australia
Pometon bolivianus Bolivian Ornate Tiger Beetle Bolivia	Manticora latipennis Broad-winged Manticora South Africa	Habroscelimorpha circumpicta Cream-edged Tiger Beetle Southwestern USA	Tricondyla gounellei Gounell’s Trunk Tiger Beetle Southern India

In case you are wondering why there are grey lines on each image, they are used to show the size of each tiger beetle. Microscopists call these lines scale bars, because they let a person know the size of an object. All the grey lines below are equal to 5 millimeters, or half a centimeter.