The tiny tiger beetle has been regarded as the culprit in the efforts to save the homes located on cliffs in Calvert County. During the Tuesday, Sept. 18 meeting of the Calvert County Cliff Stabilization Advisory Committee, however, the little bug received some respect for its role in nature. A presentation by Dr. C. Barry Knisley gave the residents in attendance an overview and better understanding why the beetle is on the federal government’s endangered species list.
Knisley, a professor emeritus from Randolph-Macon College in Virginia, reported there are 107 species and over 200 subspecies of the Puritan and Northeastern tiger beetle. “It’s a fairly diverse group,” he said, adding that naturalists find the beetle fascinating since they [beetles] are “habitat specialists. These are pretty interesting characters. They are voracious predators.”
Knisley said while the numbers of tiger beetles in Calvert County have been substantial, “the numbers are declining progressively.” The professor said the beetles are gone from Flag Ponds, Scientist Cliffs and Cove Point and the factors in the decline include shoreline changes, erosion and disturbances, and increases in human activity.
“They [the beetles] are beach dwellers, they are not cliff dwellers,” said Knisley, who added that shoreline stabilization methods “will eliminate the beach which the adult beetle needs.”
Knisley has done studies of Puritan Tiger Beetle habitats in Calvert County and along the Sassafras River on the Eastern Shore. He said his interest in the tiger beetles was prompted by the fact that “they live in interesting habitats that ought to be protected.”
He conceded that “tiger beetles have no economic value.”
The Calvert County Cliff Stabilization Advisory Committee meets the third Tuesday of the month at Courthouse Square in Prince Frederick. For more information visit www.co.cal.md.us/government/departments/planning/cliffstabilization.
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com
