{"id":24535,"date":"2025-06-29T12:59:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-29T12:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/24535\/"},"modified":"2025-06-29T12:59:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-29T12:59:10","slug":"full-of-grizzlies-wolves-and-cougars-yellowstones-top-apex-predator-is-a-bug","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/24535\/","title":{"rendered":"Full Of Grizzlies, Wolves And Cougars, Yellowstone\u2019s Top Apex Predator Is A Bug"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yellowstone National Park is full of grizzlies, wolves and elusive mountain lions. But the apex predators of the park might be those tiny tiger beetles that thrive around thermal pools \u2014 and hunt kill everything else.<\/p>\n

The wetsalts tiger beetle is one of the most unique and overlooked critters in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, and can really take the heat.<\/p>\n

Many people don\u2019t see wetsalts tiger beetles during their Yellowstone visits, as they\u2019re only an inch long and thrive where others fear \u2014 and are forbidden \u2014 to tread. But for entomologists like Leon Higley and Bob Peterson, they\u2019re one of the most exciting and mysterious examples of adaptability in an already incredible ecosystem.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe amazing thing about them is that they don\u2019t seem to care about heat,\u201d Higley said. \u201cWe\u2019ve studied tiger beetles that run into the shade or do other behaviors during the hottest part of the day. Yellowstone\u2019s tiger beetles don\u2019t do any of that. They\u2019re well-adapted and exclusively adapted to the extreme heat of thermal environments.\u201d<\/p>\n

One thing they have in common with other tiger beetles is they\u2019re fearsome predators. They\u2019ll hunt, ambush and eat anything they can catch.<\/p>\n

\"AA wetsalts tiger beetle in the wild of Yellowstone National Park. Entomologists were baffled by how these beetles could thrive in the extreme heat of Yellowstone’s thermal pools, but have discovered a series of unique adaptations, including one that was patentable, that allow them to beat the heat. (Courtesy Robert Peterson)What’s Going On With That Beetle?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Higley was visiting Mammoth Hot Springs with his son in 2006 when he took notice of a tiger beetle on one of the thermal pools. Even for someone who\u2019s studied tiger beetles across the United States, he couldn\u2019t understand the lifestyle of this beetle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI immediately knew something wasn’t right,\u201d he told Cowboy State Daily. \u201cIt was just too hot. The beetle shouldn’t be able to survive in those temperatures, but there it was. That’s what got me interested. What was going on with this beetle?\u201d<\/p>\n

Higley, a professor of applied ecology at the University of Nebraska\u2013Lincoln, resolved to unlock the mysteries of Yellowstone\u2019s tiger beetles. It took a team of dedicated entomologists nearly two decades to produce two research papers about these unique populations of \u201cextremophile beetles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peterson, a professor of entomology and head of the Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences at Montana State University, was one of those team members. He was also intrigued by the utterly unique aspects of Yellowstone\u2019s tiger beetles.<\/p>\n

\u201cTiger beetles are already warm-adapted,\u201d he said. \u201cThey like warm conditions. But Yellowstone\u2019s tiger beetles don\u2019t behave like others outside the park. It\u2019s a truly remarkable population that is behaviorally very different from other tiger beetles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some Like It Hot<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are more than 2,600 species of tiger beetles in the family Cicindelidae. The adults have distinctively large eyes, long, spindly legs and large serrated mandibles.<\/p>\n

Tiger beetles undergo significant changes throughout their lifecycles. Even as larvae, they are ambush predators that live in burrows.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re \u2018sit-and-wait\u2019 predators,\u201d Higley said. \u201cThey wait for food, usually ants, to come within striking distance, then grab and haul them into their burrows.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adult tiger beetles hunt very differently, using speed and large mandibles to hunt other insects. They\u2019re among the fastest known insects, with some capable of incredibly fast reflexes and reaching speeds of nearly 6 miles per hour \u2014 warp speed for an inch-long insect.<\/p>\n

Both Higley and Peterson said that tiger beetles are highly adaptable, and many are adapted to live in inhospitable climates and environments. Many species have evolved to thrive in the heat, but that doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re immune to it.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany tiger beetles will run into the shade, dip their abdomens in water or use their legs to raise their bodies above the ground, called stilting, to regulate their temperature,\u201d Higley said. \u201cBut Yellowstone\u2019s tiger beetles don\u2019t do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

From the beginning of their research, Higley and Peterson knew that Yellowstone\u2019s tiger beetles were \u201chighly adapted\u201d to thermal pools and basins. But these beetles were adapted to extreme temperatures in exclusive locations.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou won’t find the beetles anywhere where there aren’t thermal features,\u201d Peterson said. \u201cThere are salt flats along the Snake River in Idaho where you find tiger beetles, but you won\u2019t find beetles in the salt flats in Yellowstone, probably because it\u2019s too cool.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThese beetles have been selected to thrive in that extreme warmth. That\u2019s what\u2019s cool about them \u2014 they like the warmth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Survival In Scalding Steam<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wetsalts tiger beetles are the apex predators of a small-but-important invertebrate ecosystem in Yellowstone\u2019s thermal basins. Peterson said the beetles feed on unique thermophilic insect species.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are other insects adapted to live in that environment,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s a thermophilic species of brine flies that live in Yellowstone. They feed on the algal and bacterial mats, while the tiger beetles feed on them. It\u2019s a big part of their diet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Higley said tiger beetles also feed on insects that aren\u2019t adapted to their extreme habitat. Anything that succumbs to the steam, caustic water and boiling temperatures is easy pickings for the beetles.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like a home delivery system,\u201d he said. \u201cThey don\u2019t necessarily have to go out hunting. They can wait for things to get caught in the water and perish.\u201d<\/p>\n

A bison that got caught and died in a 160-degree Yellowstone thermal pool last weekend is\u00a0a grand feast<\/a>\u00a0for wetsalts tiger beetles.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the beetles are entirely unbothered by their extreme environment. The same thermal pools that can kill bison, elk and humans are prime real estate for tiger beetles.<\/p>\n

Even apex predators are susceptible to attack or predation, but Yellowstone\u2019s tiger beetles have an excellent home defense.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Higley said their environment is too dangerous for the few predators they have.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are some spiders in those areas,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd a few birds might snatch one up, but for the most part, they\u2019re protected where they are. They are the tigers of their ecosystem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here, There, Not Everywhere<\/strong><\/p>\n

After years of research, Higley, Peterson and their colleagues identified thriving wetsalts tiger beetle populations at 19 locations in Yellowstone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose are just in the thermal areas we had access to,\u201d Higley said. \u201cMy guess is that they\u2019re probably widespread through many areas in the backcountry.\u201d<\/p>\n

The tiger beetle team spent most of its time studying the populations at Mammoth Hot Springs and the Norris Geyser Basin. The tiny beetles were meticulously observed, their behaviors documented, and their anatomy scrutinized.<\/p>\n

One revelation was that Yellowstone\u2019s tiger beetles have several anatomical adaptations to the extreme heat of the thermal pools, which would explain their lack of temperature regulation behaviors. Higley identified their abdomens as \u201cthe most interesting adaptation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bottom of its abdomen acts like a giant reflector,\u201d he said. \u201cIt reflects infrared radiation away from its body so its body doesn’t heat up from the water.\u201d<\/p>\n

Higley and Peterson expected the tiger beetle larvae to burrow some distance away from the water\u2019s edge. In reality, they\u2019re all about beachfront property.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thought the adults would be in the thermal pools and the larvae would burrow a long way away,\u201d Higley said. \u201cTo our surprise, the larval burrows are right there around the edges of a lot of the thermal pools.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Higley, this gives the larvae a unique advantage in Yellowstone’s ever-changing climate. He believes they have higher winter survival rates than other insects in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem because of the \u201ccentral heating in their burrows.\u201d<\/p>\n

Something Higley and Peterson didn\u2019t find were tiger beetles anywhere else in Yellowstone.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While tiger beetles can be found in a wide range of different habitats, Yellowstone\u2019s populations only exist in and around thermal pools.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think they have to have soil with the right texture and temperature for their larvae to burrow in,\u201d Peterson said. \u201cThey\u2019re everywhere where they have the right habitat, but nowhere else. You won\u2019t find these tiger beetles anywhere else in Yellowstone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"OneOne of Yellowstone National Park’s wetsalts tiger beetles. Entomologists believe these highly-adapted beetles are widespread in Yellowstone, but they’re only found in the vicinity of the park’s thermal basins and nowhere else, making them a “truly remarkable” population for research. (Courtesy Robert Peterson)Just How Different<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many of the greatest scientific discoveries in history have raised more questions than they answered. Higley and Peterson have learned a lot about Yellowstone\u2019s tiger beetles, but their research has further fueled their curiosity.<\/p>\n

The biggest question the entomologists want to answer is whether Yellowstone\u2019s tiger beetles are a distinct species or just a highly adapted variant of an existing species.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow closely related or how much they may vary from other tiger beetles genetically is a real curiosity for us,\u201d Higley said. \u201cThat’s a question we can’t answer yet because we haven\u2019t been able to do the genetics work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tiger beetles are an important, but relatively recent, addition to Yellowstone.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Higley and Peterson believe they\u2019ve only been there for around 14,000 years after the melting of the Pinedale Glacier that covered all of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks during the last Ice Age.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were no animals or plants in Yellowstone 17,000 years ago, because it was covered with a mile-high block of ice,\u201d Peterson said. \u201cAs it melted, it opened that environment to be repopulated. That\u2019s when the tiger beetles moved in, and they\u2019re already warm-adapted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peterson also added that another mystery to be solved is how Yellowstone\u2019s tiger beetles dispersed throughout the park\u2019s thermal basins, another question that could be answered by genetic research.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe adults have wings, so they can fly, but not terribly gracefully,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, how do they disperse? Are they genetically mixed or genetically isolated? Does a male tiger beetle fly a mile and a half to mate with females in another thermal basin? We don\u2019t know, and we\u2019d love to know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AA headshot of a wetsalts tiger beetle in Yellowstone National Park. With their long legs, large eyes, and large mandibles, these beetles are the apex predators of the important invertebrate ecosystem of Yellowstone National Park’s thermal basins. (Courtesy Robert Peterson)Beetle Bioprospecting<\/strong><\/p>\n

Higley and Peterson are thrilled with their discoveries about the wetsalts tiger beetles in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. It\u2019s yet another example of the bounty of scientific research in what Peterson called \u201cthe fantastic natural laboratory\u201d that is Yellowstone.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very special place to do research,\u201d Peterson said. \u201cYellowstone and the National Park Service serve many purposes. One of those purposes is to understand more about the world we live in and the other organisms we share a planet with.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBy studying these organisms, like the tiger beetle, we can also discover things that we can use to improve our health and livelihoods.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peterson said this in reference to an unexpected outcome from the tiger beetle research. In addition to two published papers on Yellowstone\u2019s tiger beetles, the research team applied for and received a patent based on their highly adapted anatomy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s an interest in what’s called \u2018bioprospecting\u2019 at Yellowstone, which is looking for biological things that may have application to human problems,\u201d Higley said. \u201cThat’s definitely the case with the tiger beetles.\u201d<\/p>\n

The patent Higley, Peterson, and their peers obtained was based on the microgrooved structure on the tiger beetle\u2019s abdomen, which is used to refract infrared radiation, but also allows their \u201chydrophobic\u201d exoskeletons to retain a layer of water. The unique structure on their exoskeletons was new to science and could be used for the benefit of humanity.<\/p>\n

Patent aside, both entomologists are thrilled that the world now knows more about the unique tiger beetle populations in Yellowstone National Park. Although they\u2019re small and harmless to humans, their presence is a clear sign that they\u2019re enriching their world, and possibly our own.<\/p>\n

\u201cTiger beetles are a generically good indicator of the health of an ecosystem,\u201d Higley said. \u201cHaving healthy tiger beetle populations shows that you have a healthy ecosystem. You don’t think of something as harsh as a thermal pool as being an ecosystem, but tiger beetles are the apex predators of that ecosystem, and they all seem very healthy and robust.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peterson said it\u2019s a great example of the impact of rigorous scientific research. What started as an observation of a small beetle in a hot pool has turned into something that could change lives in the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the surface, it\u2019s just fundamental biological research,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019re learning more about something, but what good is it? And in this case, we\u2019re discovering new things about our planet and information that could help humanity and the human cause \u2014 all because this warm-adapted tiger beetle is so cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Yellowstone National Park is full of grizzlies, wolves and elusive mountain lions. But the apex predators of the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":24536,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[159,67,132,68,837],"class_list":{"0":"post-24535","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-science","9":"tag-united-states","10":"tag-unitedstates","11":"tag-us","12":"tag-wildlife"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114766778700936778","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24535\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}