Foraging behaviour of the tiger beetle Cicindela denkei Brown (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae)

Abstract

Adults of Cicindela denikei Brown are ambush predators that change their ambush sites frequently. Prey encounters modify the foraging behaviour of adult C. denikei such that they remain in the vicinity of the encounter, indicating a degree of memory, which confirm findings for C. hybrida Linnaeus by Swiecimski (1957). Adults forage in open areas mainly in the proximity of lush, mixed vegetation where arthropod prey density and diversity likely are greatest within the habitat of C. denikei. For more than 80% of the time it changes an ambush site the adult moves a distance roughly equal to or less than its field of vision effecting a systematic and thorough coverage of the foraging area. Prey attack, capture and consumption by C. denikei adults are similar to those recorded for its closest relatives, C. sexguttata Fabricius and C. patruela Dejean.