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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Ground and Water Beetles (Adephaga) » Ground Beetles (Carabidae) » Tiger Beetles (Cicindelinae) » Flashy Tiger Beetles (Cicindelini) » Common Tiger Beetles (Cicindela) » Big Sand Tiger Beetle (Cicindela formosa) » Cicindela formosa generosa
Photo#182511
Cicindela formosa ? - Cicindela formosa
Copyright © 2007 mncedars

Cicindela formosa ? - Cicindela formosa
Grantsburg, Burnett County, Wisconsin, USA
June 20, 2007
Size: 1 1/2 inches long (approx
Tentative ID. Location brush prairie (crex meadows), with lots of surrounding wetland and deep sand based soils. Looking through Tiger Beetles, the Cicindela formosa - Big Sand Tiger Beetle best fits. I am slightly confused as to whether this one is Cicindela formosa generosa or is the generosa not needed to describe the same species. Thanks for any help!

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Cicindela formosa ? - Cicindela formosa Cicindela formosa ? - Cicindela formosa
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Contributed by mncedars on 14 May, 2008 - 9:57am
Last updated 11 October, 2008 - 11:00pm

Moved
Moved from Big Sand Tiger Beetle.
… Ted Kropiewnicki, 11 October, 2008 - 11:00pm login or register to post comments

Moved
Moved from Big Sand Tiger Beetle.
… Daniel P Duran, 19 June, 2008 - 6:51pm login or register to post comments

Moved
Moved from Cicindela.
… Daniel P Duran, 19 June, 2008 - 6:51pm login or register to post comments

Moved
Moved from Cicindela.
… Daniel P Duran, 19 June, 2008 - 6:51pm login or register to post comments

You're right, C. formosa
This is C. formosa. The subspecies name would be "generosa", but most evolutionary biologists/systematists are hesitant to use those names since they are rarely real evolutionarily significant units within a species. These names are still often applied in common usage because people like to give names to all the geographic variants within a species, but they get VERY messy... the problem is that many of the named subspecies blend considerably making awkward and arbitrary names like "C. formosa formosa x formosa rutilovirescens", etc. Furthermore there are plenty of cases where geographically separate populations converge on the same appearance (maybe they have expanded white markings) and are given the same subspecies name. I do understand the popularity of subspecies names (heck, we all want to have names for different morphs!) but they are probably more misleading than anything. - Dan
… Daniel P Duran, 19 June, 2008 - 6:44pm login or register to post comments

Moved
Moved from Beetles.
… Boris Büche, 10 June, 2008 - 5:12am login or register to post comments

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