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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Ground and Water Beetles (Adephaga) » Ground Beetles (Carabidae) » Tiger Beetles (Cicindelinae) » Big-headed Tiger Beetles (Megacephalini) » Metallic Tiger Beetles (Tetracha) » Carolina Metallic Tiger Beetle (Tetracha carolina)
Photo#219551
Tetracha at black light - Tetracha carolina
Copyright © 2007 Texas Parks and Wildlife Department - Joshua S. Rose, Ph.D.

Tetracha at black light - Tetracha carolina
World Birding Center HQ at Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park, Hidalgo County, Texas, USA
August 23, 2007
This critter came to the black-light during one of our park's weekly night programs last summer. Unfortunately, the white sheet under the black-light forced most of the photos to be overexposed. One member of this genus is restricted in the US to the LRGV, but my impression from these photos is that this is the more widespread T. carolina.

Images of this individual: tag all
Tetracha at black light - Tetracha carolina Tetracha at black light, side view - Tetracha carolina Tetracha at black light, dorsal view - Tetracha carolina
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Contributed by Joshua Stuart Rose on 29 August, 2008 - 6:17pm
Last updated 29 August, 2008 - 11:03pm

Moved
Moved from Tetracha based on e-mail comments from Giff Beaton and Dave Pearson
… Joshua Stuart Rose, 29 August, 2008 - 11:03pm login or register to post comments

Overexposed?
Generally, a white background would cause automatic exposure cameras to underexpose. The camera wants to make the background medium gray. Witness millions of bad snow photos.

Maybe the camera, in this case, was doing spot metering and tried to make the black beetle medium gray.
… Stephen Hart, 29 August, 2008 - 7:21pm login or register to post comments

 
It's hard to get good exposure
on a subject with very pale legs and a dark body. A gray background might help but I suspect in this case if the legs were OK, the dark portions would be way under-exposed.
… Jim McClarin, 30 August, 2008 - 6:43am login or register to post comments

 
Like Red Rim
A similar problem is posed by the butterfly Biblis hyperia, black with red markings. Nearly every photo I have taken or seen of it, either the black looks nice and rich, but the red is washed out; or the red is brilliant but the black is faded. Though Alan Chin-Lee's photo is an exception...
… Joshua Stuart Rose, 30 August, 2008 - 7:48am login or register to post comments

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