Tiger beetles, which occur everywhere, must surely be the sprint champions of the insect world. Their actual speed may not be impressive - only 2 ft (60 cm) a second, or 1.5 mph (2.5 km/h). Yet if a beetle were scaled up to horse size, this would be the equivalent of 250 mph (400 km/h).
At this speed, a tiger beetle can outpace any other insect, and its large, compound eyes give it distance vision of up to 5-6 in (13-15 cm). An unwary ant, for example, that passes within a handspan of a tiger beetle, will be caught after a quick, well-timed dash, and end up as a meal in less than a quarter of a second. All in all a fearsome hunter, the beetle owes its swiftness to its six long, slender legs. No less useful are its large, sharp, four-pointed jaws - formidable weapons for catching and dismembering prey.
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