The Effect of Environment on Ventral Abdominal Temperature in Five Tiger Beetle Species (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae)

Recent work demonstrated that Cicindelidia hemorrhagica (LeConte) inhabiting geothermal springs in Yellowstone National Park (YNP) possess morphological traits that reduce internal heat load when exposed to bottom-up thermal stress. To investigate whether this pattern extends to other tiger beetle species occupying diverse environments, we quantified the internal abdominal temperatures of six species differing in habitat preference and putative thermal adaptation. Using a water-bath system that simulated surface heating, we compared the temperature differential (ΔT) between beetle-loaded and bare thermocouples across multiple temperatures. Linear mixed-effects models were used to evaluate the influence of location and species on internal temperature. Across all experimental temperatures, C. hemorrhagica exhibited the greatest ΔT values, indicating the lowest internal temperatures relative to the thermal environment, regardless of whether individuals originated from YNP or non-thermal Idaho habitats. In contrast, the warm-resilient Cicindela repanda (Dejean) and non-warm-adapted C. longilabris (Say) showed the smallest ΔT values and therefore the highest internal temperatures. Ventral abdominal coloration-ranging from bright red (C. sedecimpunctata (Klug)) to dark blue-green (C. oregona (Dejean))-did not correlate with internal temperatures, suggesting that it is a poor predictor of heat absorbance or reflectance under bottom-up heat exposure. These results indicate that C. hemorrhagica is uniquely effective at limiting internal heat gain from surface heating, and that it may possess a preadaptive morphological mechanism facilitating thermal resistance in geothermal habitats.