# 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.

- **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.

## About

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 .

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/23a5caaa-0811-4e3a-bced-8d6c718d85a4
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/130143
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicindela campestris
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/2682685/medium.jpg (Bart, CC-BY, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.