New Zealand Tiger Beetle vs Horned Baboon Spider-hunting Wasp
Side-by-side species comparison
| Attribute | New Zealand Tiger Beetle | Horned Baboon Spider-hunting Wasp |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Neocicindela tuberculata | Sphex tomentosus |
| Order | Coleoptera | Hymenoptera |
| Family | Cicindelidae | Sphecidae |
| Size | 10-14 mm | 25-35 mm |
| Habitat | Deserts & Drylands | Deserts & Drylands |
| Diet | Predators | Predators |
| Regions | Oceania (New Zealand) | East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Uganda) |
| Conservation | Least Concern | Least Concern |
New Zealand Tiger Beetle
An endemic tiger beetle found on sandy and clay soils throughout New Zealand. It is an active visual predator that runs down prey on bare ground. The larvae are ambush predators that live in vertical burrows in the soil.
Did You Know?
New Zealand tiger beetles run so fast relative to their size that they temporarily go blind during pursuit, having to stop and re-locate their prey before sprinting again.
Horned Baboon Spider-hunting Wasp
A large, solitary wasp with a black body and metallic blue-green sheen. It hunts grasshoppers and katydids, paralyzing them and provisioning underground nest cells.
Did You Know?
French naturalist Jean-Henri Fabre's observations of this wasp's rigid behavioral routines led to famous debates about insect intelligence.