AboutEric R. Eaton Expertise I can answer most questions related to wasps, solitary bees, grasshoppers and katydids, beetles, cicadas, and spiders, and identification of "mystery bugs" in North America. No "what bit me?" or "what do I feed this bug in captivity?" questions please.
Experience
Past/Present clients Principal author of the "Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America," Smithsonian Institution (contract), Cincinnati Zoo (employer), Portland State University (contract), Chase Studio, Inc (employer), Arkansas Museum of Discovery (guest speaker). Currently seeking employment in a highly creative work environment with a media corporation or non-profit.
Question i grew up in the country and around spring and summer, there are always these holes in the ground perfectly round and about the size of a pencil eraser... we always would take a piece of straw and stick it in the hole and move it around. the straw would move and we would pull it up quickly to see that a worm about an inch long was on the end of it holding on with pinchers.. its a yellowish color with a hump on its back, about 6 legs and its head is hard and brown with 2 pinchers.. we always called it a chicken choker but i would like to know what this type of worm actually is. can you help?
Answer Christie:
Oh, wow! You give a brilliant description of the larvae of tiger beetles, genus Cicindela, family Carabidae (or Cicindelidae according to some authorities). They are ambush predators of other insects, lying in wait in their burrows with their heads flush with the surface of the soil. When a hapless victim happens by, they lunge out of their burrow, grab it, and drop back down. They are very wary, though, and retreat at the approach of any 'big' animal, like a person. Adult tiger beetles are spectacular insects, often colored in metallic green, blue, or purple, with ivory markings, but still surprisingly cryptic until they move. They run at great speed, stop, and run again, flying short distances if they need to avoid a large predator. They are most common in dry habitats with sparse clumps of grass, and along the sandy margins of lakes and rivers.
Please see the four pages I devote to tiger beetles in my new book, the "Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America," or look for some of the nice guides on North American tiger beetles that are out now. Also, there are some fabulous images of tiger beetles at:
I had never heard the larvae called "chicken chokers," but can assure you that poultry would do more harm to the grubs than vice versa:-) Thanks for the lesson in folklore.
