Tiger beetles are voracious predatory sun-loving insects. Their S-shaped larvae are also predators which construct vertical burrows in dry soil and seize prey in strong jaws... These beetles are capable of sustaining speeds of 25 miles per hour in short bursts making them the fastest land insects in the world! (thanks to Jack Simon for this info)

Tiger Beetles are fluid feeders and use what is called 'pre-oral digestion' i.e. digestive juices are secreted onto the prey while it is held and crushed by the mandibles which possess a special molar-like tooth to aid in this mastication. It looks like it is squeezing its jaws open and shut at the same time as it is sucking in. (Gordon's Tiger Beetle Page)

Reminder to tiger beetles: If you chase prey at high speeds, you'll go blind.

Entomologists have long noticed that tiger beetles stop-and-go in their pursuit of prey. But until now, scientists have had no idea why this type of beetle attacks its food in fits and starts.

The answer is that the insect's ability to see shuts down after it accelerates toward prey.

"If the tiger beetles move too quickly, they don't gather enough photons (illumination into the beetle's eyes) to form an image of their prey," explained Cole Gilbert, Cornell professor of entomology.

But, just how fast is fast for a tiger beetle? Gilbert compared an ordinary tiger beetle to Olympic superstar Michael Johnson. Johnson, the world-record holder, can run 200 meters in 19.32 seconds, which averages to a speed of 10.35 meters per second (or 23.1 mph.)

"The top speed for my tiger beetles is 0.5387 meters per second (1.2 mph)," said Gilbert. "This is not very impressive, but the beetles are a lot smaller than Michael Johnson. If we scale the speed for body length, we get a much different picture."

Considering Johnson is about 6 feet tall (1.83 meters), his 10.35 meters per second becomes 5.6 body lengths per second -- "Obviously impressive," Gilbert said. He then explained the tiger beetle has a body length of only 10 millimeters, and its running speed of 0.53 meters per second becomes 53.87 body lengths per second, or relatively 10 times faster than our best human sprinter.

"And the species of tiger beetle I work with (Cicindela repanda) is not even the fastest," explained Gilbert. "There is an Australian species, Cicindela hudsoni, which is 20 millimeters long and can run 2.5 meters per second. This translates into a relative speed of 125 body lengths per second. Michael Johnson would have to run a 200 meter race in 0.87 seconds to equal the relative quickness of the Australian species, or in 2.03 seconds to equal the relative speed of the beetle I work with."

Cornell News http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/Jan98/TigerBeetle.bpf.html