Category Archives: Cicindelidae

Tiger beetles. Adults are agile predators in open areas such as stream banks and beaches; a few species are wingless and on tree trunks. Larvae are ambush predators living in vertical tunnels of soil or wood.

Arriving now in a mailbox near you…

The latest issue of Cicindela (A quarterly journal devoted to Cicindelidae) has just been issued. My copy arrived yesterday and features on the cover a photograph that I took of Tetracha carolina in Florida this past August (original photo and more can be … Continue reading

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Cicindela albissima—The Coral Pink Sand Dunes Tiger Beetle

The week had started off good, with three species of western sand dune endemic tiger beetles (Cicindela formosa gibsoni, C. scutellaris yampae, and C. arenicola) and a variety of sometimes spectacular Crossidius longhorned beeltes having been encountered.  Mid-week, however, had brought a lull in our … Continue reading

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Isn’t she splendid?!

This gorgeous female Cicindela splendida emerged recently from one of my rearing containers.  She was one of several 3rd instar larvae that I collected this past June from their burrows in a dolomite glade in southeastern Missouri.  I had suspected they might represent this … Continue reading

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St. Anthony Dune Tiger Beetle

After kicking off the 2011 fall tiger beetle trip by finding Cicindela formosa gibsoni and C. scutellaris yampae in the Yampa Valley sand dunes in northwestern Colorado, I was even more optimistic about my chances of seeing the main goals of the trip—the four C. … Continue reading

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The Methocha

As pointed out in my recent post, Bee Fly Parasitism of Tetracha virginica, there is much to learn still regarding tiger beetle larval parasitoids. In addition to bee flies (order Diptera, family Bombyliidae) of the genus Anthrax, tiphiid wasps (order … Continue reading

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Cicindela scutellaris yampae – Yampa Festive Tiger Beetle

In A Field Guide to the Tiger Beetles of the United States and Canada (Pearson et al. 2006), Cicindela scutellaris yampae (Yampa Festive Tiger Beetle) is one of 223 species and subspecies listed in the book’s index to species and subspecies. … Continue reading

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Cicindela formosa gibsoni… or not!

Last Friday I began the 2011 Annual Fall Tiger Beetle Trip™. This year’s edition was actually a last-minute change—my original plans to collect wood for rearing wood-boring beetles in south Texas thwarted by that state’s long and continuing drought (along … Continue reading

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A cicindelophilic wish list

Cicindelia obsoleta vulturina disjuncts bolting across lichen-covered sandstone balds. Cicindela scutellaris yampae—red, white and blue in all its glory! Big, bold, hugely white Cicindela formosa gibsoni bouncing across the sand. Cicindela arenicola dancing across the St. Anthony dunes. Hugely-mandibled male … Continue reading

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