A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Project Noah Nature School
Cicindela hirticollis
Large-jawed predacious beetle. Light tan markings around edge of elytra (wing covers). Large, bulbuos eyes. Long legs.
Dry, sandy areas along large rivers and lakes. Sand dunes and gravel pits.
TIger beetles are fast-moving predators that capture other insects by running them down. Both adults and larvae are predacious.
It can be identified by the very large size (largest <i>Cicindela</i> in east), and robust structure. This is the '<i>manitoba</i> variation of <i>Cicindela formosa generosa</i>, which has expanded elytral margins so the maculations are all connected. This species is very common in a variety of sandy situations, and is a frequent component of tiger beetle faunas in sandy habitat east of the Rockies, except for the southeastern coastal plain, where it is absent. A sandy riverbank would be adequate habitat.
<a href="http://bugguide.net/node/view/331297">http://bugguide.net/node/view/331297</a>
<a href="http://bugguide.net/node/view/740607/bgimage">http://bugguide.net/node/view/740607/bgimage</a>
The other identification of <i>Cicindela hirticollis</i> is incorrect. That species is smaller, lankier, with proportionately longer legs, more protruding eyes, proportionately longer, thinner mandibles, and with the humeral lunule marking strongly recurved to the anterior, like a letter G.
<a href="http://bugguide.net/node/view/297084/bgimage">http://bugguide.net/node/view/297084/bgimage</a>
I am an editor on bugguide. My name is Ben Coulter. Cheers.
hudwit, An interesting suggestion and I'm willing to consider the suggestion of Big Sand Tiger Beetle, but that species seems to be a species found in dry sandy areas. This tiger beetle was found on a damp river bank. Can you provide support your conclusion? Thanks for your interest. I'll be interested in hearing the premises to your conclusion.
Having now spent way too much time looking at tiger beetles, it seems like the best call to me...though it isn't perfect. Great picture regardless.
I think you might be right. The markings seem a bit thick for a hairy-necked, but everything else seems right. Insects can be either easy to ID or nearly impossible. Thanks for the assistance.
It's not a perfect match, but your picture definitely matches the "hairy" part of the name. It might also be worth checking out the USGS website on it, they have a listing of Tiger Beetles from Minnesota. (http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr...) But definitely do some more research, I'm only halfway sure about that ID.
Spotted on Jun 23, 2010
Submitted on Apr 23, 2010
+3
