Cicindela dorsalis was named by Thomas Say in 1817 and Cicindela media by John LeConte in 1857; currently, these two are considered subspecies of the same species. C. dorsalis media occurs long the southeast coast of the United States, including South Carolina and C. dorsalis dorsalis occurs along the northeast coast. Two other subspecies, C. dorsalis saulcyi and C. dorsalis venusta, are found along the coasts of Florida, the Gulf of Mexico and Mexico (Boyd 1982).

The white beach tiger beetle ranges from 10.5 to 13.5 mm (0.41 to 0.53 inches) in length. Like all tiger beetles, its legs and antennae are long and slender and its jaws are large. The elytra (wing coverings) are white with narrow sinuous bronze markings; the head and pronotum are bronze. The pronotum and sides of the under surface are densely covered with white hairs. The sides of the elytra of males are nearly parallel whereas females are somewhat more broadly rounded. The beetle is well camouflaged on the light sand where it lives. [1]