Saturday, April 26, 2008

Six-Spotted Tiger Beetle


Six-Spotted Tiger Beetle (Cicindela sexguttata)

Obviously, male tiger beetles use their powerful jaws for clasping things other than just prey.



From BugGuide Species Page:

Identification: Brilliant green coloration with six white spots. No other Nearctic Tiger Beetle looks much like this one. Occasional variation seen. Overall color may be bluish on some individuals, and spots may be missing on some individuals.
Range: In the United States, found over much of the eastern and Great Plains states. Absent from the Gulf Coast area. Range continues into southeastern Canada.
Habitat: Dirt paths in grassy areas, but seldom far from the woods. Also found hunting along sidewalks and roads.
Food: A variety of insects.
Remarks: Over much of America, this is probably the species of Tiger Beetle most often noticed by the general public.

Related Post: Splendid Tiger Beetle


We're sorry, but Marvin is not currently at his computer. If you'd care to leave a message on the comments page, he will read it upon his return home. Thank you.

(Now...... Let's see if I can get Blogger's new scheduling feature to work for me.)

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5 comments:

Tom said...

These are great captures and these posts are really interesting..

Tom

Lisa at Greenbow said...

I've seen shiny green beetles around here that look like this except for the spots. At least I have never noticed the spots before. I will give them a closer look the next time I see one.

smilnsigh said...

Well, I sure hope she was willing!

Neat flurescent green though.

And you are trying out some new Blogger thingie hu? OK, you try it and tell us how it worked! :-)

Mari-Nanci
Photos-City-Mine
Smilnsigh

Anonymous said...

Nice shots, Marvin.

Lisa - some populations of this species lack the white spots. Here in Missouri, most have them, but populations in the NW part of the state do not.

Lana Gramlich said...

Yeah, baby...Bug sex...That's the stuff! *LOL* (Beautiful insects, really!)