New Zealand common tiger beetle

It was the very first ground beetle from New Zealand that scientists described. It was collected on Captain Cook's first voyage.

Its larva digs a straight burrow up to 15 centimetres deep and waits at the top to grab passing insects.

The larva has a pair of hooks on its back that help it hold on and move inside its burrow.

Kiwi, magpies and robber flies hunt it. To defend itself it gives off a musky smell.

In the Māori language it is sometimes called moeone.