Big sand tiger beetle
Cicindela formosa
The big sand tiger beetle is a flashy, shiny beetle from North America. Tiger beetles are super fast runners with big jaws, and they hunt other small bugs. This one loves sandy places.
Lives in
North America, in sandy places
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless if you just watch it. If you pick it up, it may give you a small nip with its jaws.
What does it eat?
It is a hunter. It runs after small insects on the sand and grabs them with its jaws.
How fast is it?
A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
Big sand tiger beetle about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
A grown-up on a bike about 25 km/h (16 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
There are six kinds of big sand tiger beetle, called subspecies. One of them is called Gibson's sand tiger beetle.
2
Over a very long time its colour patterns have changed to fit where it lives, helped by things like hungry predators and the hot sun.
3
Tiger beetles can run very fast on their long legs, and they can fly too.
you asked
Most asked questions about Big sand tiger beetle
?Do big sand tiger beetles bite?
They can give a small nip if you hold them, but they are not dangerous.
?What does a big sand tiger beetle eat?
Other small insects that it catches on the sand.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Cicindela formosa
- Named by
- Say, 1817
- Group
- Beetles
- Family
- Cicindelidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Coleoptera > Cicindelidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Cicindela formosa (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by xpda. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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