Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

Tribe Cicindelini - Flashy Tiger Beetles

Big Sand Tiger Beetle - Cicindela lengi Eastern Red-bellied Tiger Beetles Mating - Cicindelidia rufiventris - male - female Ferocious looking Wetsalts Tiger from Owens Lake - Cicindelidia haemorrhagica Bronzed Tiger Beetle - Cicindela repanda repanda - Cicindela repanda Cicindela marginata - Ellipsoptera marginata - female Cicindela pulchra pulchra - Cicindela pulchra Thin-lined Tiger Beetle - Cicindelidia tenuisignata Beetle  Found crawling in grass during the hottest part of the day - Dromochorus belfragei
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 Cicindelini (Flashy Tiger Beetles)
Numbers
~2000 spp. worldwide, of which a half formerly assigned to Cicindela arranged into 85 subgenera; ca. 100 sp. in our area(1)
Identification
See (2) and Willis (1968)
Sexiing: males have dense hairy pads on protarsomeres 1−3 ("tarsal pads").
Color can be a tricky character:
Life Cycle
beetles are often seen in pairs, often for mate guarding
Remarks
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed Cicindela ohlone and Ellipsoptera nevadica lincolniana as endangered, and Habroscelimorpha dorsalis dorsalis & E. puritana as threatened
See Also
Elaphrus spp. (<10 mm) resemble miniature tiger beetles with large embossed circular spots on elytra
Print References
Willis H.L. (1968) Artificial key to the species of Cicindela of North America north of Mexico (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae). J. Kans. Ent. Soc. 41: 303-317 (Full text)
Works Cited
1.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.
2.A field guide to the tiger beetles of the United States and Canada: identification, natural history, and distribution... 2nd Ed.
Pearson D.L., Knisley C.B., Duran D.P., Kazilek C.J. 2015. Oxford University Press. 328 pp.