S-banded tiger beetle
Cicindelidia trifasciata
The S-banded tiger beetle is a fast little hunter with big eyes and sharp jaws. Tiger beetles race across open ground and grab small insects. This one has wavy pale bands on its back.
Lives in
The Americas, on muddy shores and mudflats
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless to people. It may give a little nip with its jaws if you hold it, so just watch it run.
What does it eat?
Like all tiger beetles, it runs down small insects and other little creatures and grabs them with its jaws.
How fast is it?
A tortoise about 0.3 km/h (0.19 mph)
S-banded tiger beetle about 1.2 km/h (0.75 mph)
A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
A kid running fast about 13 km/h (8.1 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
Scientists know eight subspecies of it, each living in its own area.
2
One of its subspecies is called the mudflat tiger beetle, after the muddy shores where it runs about.
3
Tiger beetles are some of the fastest runners of all insects.
you asked
Most asked questions about S-banded tiger beetle
?Is the S-banded tiger beetle dangerous?
No. It may nip if you grab it, but it is harmless to people.
?What does a tiger beetle eat?
Small insects and other little creatures that it chases down and grabs with its jaws.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Cicindelidia trifasciata
- Named by
- Fabricius, 1781
- Group
- Beetles
- Family
- Carabidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Coleoptera > Carabidae
- Lives on
- North America, South America
Where the facts come from
- Cicindela trifasciata (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 Judy Gallagher. CC BY 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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