Mating Purple Tiger Beetles, we believe

bugman

October 16th, 2009 at 9:06 am

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Mountain Bug love
October 16, 2009
Found these two love-bugs while hiking a mountain in the Hudson Valley region of New York state during late spring. I’m not sure what they are, but I think they’re in love .
Tori
Hudson Valley, New York

Mating Purple Tiger Beetles

Hi Tori,
These are mating Tiger Beetles in the genus Cicindela. There are numerous species illustrated on BugGuide. We believe they may be Purple Tiger Beetles, Cicindela purpurea, though we would prefer to have an actual expert confirm the species ID. You can check out the photos and description of the Purple Tiger Beetle on BugGuide.

Dave Gracer’s comment
What’s cool about this pic is that the female has got some food, most likely supplied by the male as a token. In other words, sex for food. Other kinds of animals do this — I don’t know how many, but I know that roadrunners to it. Pretty fascinating, when you consider the possibility that there are some vague analogies in our species.

Mating Tiger Beetles (June 26, 2008)
Mating California Tiger Beetles (July 26, 2008)
Mating Big Sand Tiger Beetles (September 19, 2008)
Three species of Tiger Beetles from Wyoming (May 17, 2009)
Six Spotted Tiger Beetles Mating (May 31, 2009)

Comments 1

Dave wrote:
What’s cool about this pic is that the female has got some food, most likely supplied by the male as a token. In other words, sex for food. Other kinds of animals do this — I don’t know how many, but I know that roadrunners to it. Pretty fascinating, when you consider the possibility that there are some vague analogies in our species.
Posted 17 Oct 2009 at 6:30 am ¶