Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar

TaxonomyBrowse
Info
ImagesLinksBooksData

Genus Amblycheila - Giant Tiger Beetles

Amblycheila hoversoni Amblycheila cylindriformis, eating grasshopper - Amblycheila cylindriformis Amblycheila cylindriformis Amblycheila baroni Amblycheila cylindriformis Amblycheila cylindriformis Larva - Amblycheila baroni Amblycheila katzi being fed on by Black Widow (Latrodectus sp) - Amblycheila katzi
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Adephaga
Family Carabidae (Ground Beetles)
Subfamily Cicindelinae (Tiger Beetles)
Tribe Amblycheilini (Blunt-lipped Tiger Beetles)
Genus Amblycheila (Giant Tiger Beetles)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Amblycheila Say, 1830

Synonyms:
Chaleposomus Chaudoir 1861 (Unjustified replacement name)
Explanation of Names
From ambly-, Greek blunt or dull, plus Greek cheilos, lip (Internet searches).
Numbers
Five species occur north of Mexico, with two additional species known from Mexico. (1)
One of the Mexican species, Amblycheila halffteri, is sometimes cited as occurring in Texas (i.e. (2)), but it seems to be restricted to Mexico.

Species:
Amblycheila baroni Rivers, 1890
Amblycheila cylindriformis (Say, 1823)
Amblycheila hoversoni Gage, 1991
Amblycheila picolominii Reiche, 1839
Amblycheila schwarzi W. Horn, 1903
Another species, Amblycheila katzi, was recently described from Texas (Duran and Roman, 2019).
Size
Length 20-36 mm (1)
Identification
More than 20 mm in length. Mandibular scrobe with several long setae. Inflexed part of elytron coarsely punctate. Male sternum 7 with posterior margin entire.
Key to species: (from (1))

1a. Larger sized (29-36 mm), occurring east of Rockies .... 2
1b. Smaller (20-28 mm), occurring west of Rockies .... 3

2a. Single row of punctures between two inner elytral carina; south Texas .... A. hoversoni
2b. Rows of punctures across entire elytra; Great Plains from west Texas to South Dakota, not found in south Texas .... A. cylindriformis

3a. Elytron usually with single carina, surface dull black; central & southeast Arizona .... A. baroni
3b. Elytron with three carina, surface shiny black; not in southeast Arizona .... 4

4a. Southwest Utah to California, in the intermontane valleys of the Rocky Mountains .... A. schwarzi
4b. Northern New Mexico, southeast Utah (3), and southwest Colorado, to central Arizona .... A. picolominii
Range
Primarily Southwestern U.S. (1), with A. cylindriformis occurring as far north as the Dakotas.
Habitat
Each species seems to be habitat specific, with non-overlapping ranges. (1)
Food
Predacious
Remarks
These flightless tiger beetles are nocturnal, they spend the daylight hours in self-constructed burrows or rodent burrows. (4)
They are not attracted to lights. (1)
Print References
Pearson et al., p. 48 (1)
Revision of genus in (5)
Gage, E.V. 1991. Description of a new species of Amblycheila from Texas with additional notes. (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae). Cicindelidae Bulletin of Worldwide Research 1(1)(l990): 1-10.
Sumlin, W.D. 1991. Studies on the Mexican Cicindelidae II: two new species from Coahuila and Nuevo Leon (Coleoptera). Cicindelidae Bulletin of Worldwide Research, 1: 1-6.
Duran DP, Roman SJ (2019) A new petrophilous tiger beetle from the Trans-Pecos region of Texas and revised key to the genus Amblycheila (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Cicindelinae). ZooKeys 893: 125-134. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.893.47059
Works Cited
1.A Field Guide To The Tiger Beetles Of The United States And Canada
David Pearson, C. Barry Knisley, Charles J. Kazilek, David L. Pearson, Barry C. Knisley. 2005. Oxford University Press.
2.Catalogue of the Geadephaga (Coleoptera: Trachypachidae, Rhysodidae, Carabidae including Cicindelini) of America north of Mexico
Y. Bousquet and A. Larochelle. 1993. Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada, 125: 1-397.
3.The plateau giant tiger beetle, Amblycheila picolominii Reiche, 1839, in Utah: new state record.....
F.T. Krell and J.O. Brookhart. 2012. Western North American Naturalist 72(1), 110–111.
4.American Beetles, Volume I: Archostemata, Myxophaga, Adephaga, Polyphaga: Staphyliniformia
Arnett, R.H., Jr., and M. C. Thomas. (eds.). 2000. CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, FL.
5.A review of the North American genus Amblycheila (Coleoptera, Cicindelidae).
Vaurie, P. 1955. American Museum Novitates; no. 1724.