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Sticker of Oblique-lined tiger beetle
Bug card No. 3086 of 4,939

Oblique-lined tiger beetle

Cicindela tranquebarica
Name means: “named after Tranquebar in India, because a label once gave that place by mistake”
Eats: Other bugs and small animalsBeetlesPonds, rivers and shores6 legs

The oblique-lined tiger beetle is a fast hunter with big eyes. Its shiny body can be reddish brown, black or green. It is a strong flier and loves sunny, open ground near water.

Lives in
Most of the United States, on sandy banks, mud flats and open ground
Length
1.1 to 1.6 cm (0.43 to 0.63 in)
Top speed
about 5.3 km/h (3.3 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless to people. It is better to watch it than to try to grab it.
What does it eat?
Like other tiger beetles, it hunts small insects. Its larva waits in a burrow in the ground.
For real!Photo of Oblique-lined tiger beetle
Picture by JerryFriedman. CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Oblique-lined tiger beetle about 1.6 cm long (0.63 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)
as long as 2.5 grains of rice in a rowcould run across a dinner table in 0.7 secondsmoves 92 times its own body length every second

How big is Oblique-lined tiger beetle compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Females are usually a little longer than males.

2

When it gets too hot or too cold, it hops between sun and shade to keep its body at just the right warmth.

3

Its skin has a waxy layer that stops it from drying out, so it can live on the dry top part of a beach.

4

At night it is drawn to lights.

5

Its larvae dig burrows in the ground that can go 22 to 50 centimetres deep.

you asked

Most asked questions about Oblique-lined tiger beetle

?How big is the oblique-lined tiger beetle?

It is 11 to 16 millimetres long, about as long as a fingernail.

?Where does the oblique-lined tiger beetle live?

It lives across most of the United States, on sandy and muddy ground, often near rivers and lakes.

?Can it fly?

Yes. It is a strong flier.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Cicindela tranquebarica
Group
Beetles
Family
Cicindelidae
Classification
Insecta > Coleoptera > Cicindelidae
Lives on
North America

Where the facts come from

  1. Cicindela tranquebarica (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by JerryFriedman. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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More from the same group: Beetles

Also at home here: Ponds, rivers and shores

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