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Sticker of Eastern beach tiger beetle
Bug card No. 1462 of 4,939

Eastern beach tiger beetle

Habroscelimorpha dorsalis
Eats: Other bugs and small animalsBeetlesPonds, rivers and shores6 legs

The eastern beach tiger beetle is a speedy hunter that lives on sandy beaches. Its wing cases are pale like the sand, with thin bronze lines, so it is hard to see. It has big eyes, long thin legs and strong jaws for catching small animals.

Lives in
The east coast of North America, from the United States to Mexico and Central America, on sandy beaches
Length
1.3 to 1.5 cm (0.51 to 0.59 in)
Top speed
about 5.2 km/h (3.2 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless to people. It might nip with its strong jaws if you grab it, so just watch it run.
What does it eat?
It catches flies, ants and sand hoppers on the beach, and it will also eat dead fish and crabs.
For real!Photo of Eastern beach tiger beetle
Picture by xpda. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Eastern beach tiger beetle about 1.5 cm long (0.59 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 96 times its own body length every second

How big is Eastern beach tiger beetle compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

The larva of one kind can jump up, curl into a wheel and let the wind roll it across the sand, up to 60 metres.

2

Its larvae live in straight burrows in the sand and grab insects that walk past.

3

The mother tests the sand with sensitive hairs to make sure it is damp enough before she lays an egg.

4

It takes 2 whole years to grow from egg to adult beetle.

5

One kind that lives in the north-east of the United States has become rare, because people and cars disturb its beaches.

you asked

Most asked questions about Eastern beach tiger beetle

?What does the eastern beach tiger beetle eat?

Small animals on the beach, like flies, ants and sand hoppers, plus dead fish and crabs.

?Where does the eastern beach tiger beetle live?

On wide, sandy beaches along the coasts of the United States, Mexico and Central America.

?Why is it endangered?

One kind of it is threatened because people, cars and sea walls damage the beaches it needs.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Habroscelimorpha dorsalis
Named by
Say, 1817
Group
Beetles
Family
Cicindelidae
Classification
Insecta > Coleoptera > Cicindelidae
Lives on
North America

Where the facts come from

  1. Habroscelimorpha dorsalis (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 xpda. CC BY-SA 4.0, 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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