Green Tiger Beetle
Cicindela campestris
They run so incredibly fast that their eyes cannot process visual information quickly enough, requiring them to repeatedly stop to reorient and spot their prey.
- Scientific name
- Cicindela campestris
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Arthropoda › Insecta › Coleoptera › Cicindelidae › Cicindela
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- stable
- Biome
- grassland
- Habitat
- Sunny, open areas with bare sandy soil, heathlands, dunes, moorlands, and dry unpaved paths.
- Diet
- Ants, spiders, caterpillars, flies, and other small invertebrates.
- Range
- Europe, Central Asia, Siberia
- Size
- 12 to 15 mm in length
- Lifespan
- 2 to 3 years (mostly spent in the larval stage; adults live for a single summer)
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Habitat loss due to scrub encroachment, afforestation, and intensive agricultural land use.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless to humans. These beetles are highly alert and will fly or run away long before you can get close. If handled roughly, they may pinch with their mandibles, which is non-venomous and causes only minor discomfort. If pinched, simply wash the area with soap and water.
Cicindela campestris , commonly called the green tiger beetle is a widespread Eurasian species of tiger beetle. It is the type species of the large genus Cicindela .
Photo: Bart, CC-BY, via iNaturalist
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