Adult tiger beetles Cicindela gemmata modify their foraging strategy in different hunting contexts

Predator–prey interaction has long been an interesting item in the research of animal behaviors. Given that live prey can damage their predators, predators must trade foraging efficiency for safety while hunting, but the extent of this trade‐off is not yet clear. Tiger beetles display diversity in their diets and hunting strategies, and hence, they become an ideal system to address how self‐security affects foraging efficiency. We addressed this question in captive adult tiger beetles Cicindela gemmata. By offering several types of arthropod and plant foods, we confirmed that C. gemmata is carnivorous. We found that C. gemmata hunt by either ambushing or chasing their prey, and that they switch between strategies based on differences in the number of prey, the prey status and encounter rate, and the number of predators. Ambushing success increased with the number of prey but decreased with prey encounter rate. Chasing success decreased as prey body size and encounter rate increased. Foraging Cicindela gemmata often gave up an attack when it was nonfatal. This active giving up of hunting may be a consequence of a trade‐off between foraging efficiency and self‐security. Therefore, it is an adaptive response to the risk of injury when hunting for larger live prey. The tiger beetle has 3 foraging strategies: (a) detritus feeding, wherein a tiger beetle searches for food debris in the habitat; (b) ambush strategy; and (c) chase strategy. During the process of hunting for different‐sized live prey, the tiger beetle Cicindela gemmata might adopt either the ambushing or chasing strategy and they could switch between these 2 strategies in different contexts in terms of the prey's number, status, and encounter rate, and also the predators’ numbers.