Carabid Beetle Larva

The entomology team came across these interesting creatures this week and for a short while, they scratched their heads in wonder as they were stumped as to whether this could be a spider, an ant or a type of bee. Since they suspected it was a spider, they sent the photos to Ian Engelbrecht, who confirmed it is a carabid beetle larva - Probably Lophyra, a leopard tiger beetle! The larvae are predatory, ambushing their prey from burrows in the ground using their well-developed mandibles, blocking their burrows with their large heads. So we have another kind of 'leopard' in our area to add to our list, aside from the Cape leopard and the Western leopard toad.

The video provided has been slowed quite a bit for a proper peek.