Sidewalk Tiger Beetle – Cicindela punctulata
Tiger beetles are members of the suborder Adephaga within the Order Coleoptera. Adult tiger beetles are characterized by large, prominent compound eyes and eleven-segmented, filiform antennae. The antennae are inserted on the frons above the clypeus and below the eyes. The head, at the eyes, is wider than the pronotum (in most common genera of cicindelids). The tarsi are five-segmented.
This beetle is an active predator and can be found hunting along footpaths and walkways through deciduous or mixed woodlands and increasingly in more suburban settings. Since the adults overwinter in their original pupal burrows, they are some of the earliest “big” flying insects out and about come springtime.
References:
1. Janet C. Ciegler and Joey Holmes, White Beach Tiger Beetle South Carolina Department of Natural Resources
2. Boyd, H.P. 1982. Checklist of Cicindelidae: The tiger beetles. Plexus Publishing, Inc. New Jersey. 31 pp.
3. Knisley, C.B. and T.D. Schultz. 1997. Tiger beetles of the South Atlantic states. Virginia Museum of Natural History
4. Bugguide.net, Tiger Beetle – Cicindela punctulata
North American Insects & Spiders
Online since 2002
