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Beetles of Zihuatanejo

ORDER COLEOPTERA

Cicindelidia hydrophoba
Cicindelidia hydrophoba

-Animals (Kingdom Animalia)

-Arthropods (Phylum Arthropoda)

-Hexapods (Subphylum Hexapoda)

-Insects (Class Insecta)

-Winged and Once-winged Insects (Subclass Pterygota)

-Beetles (Order Coleoptera​​)

-Ground and Water Beetles (Suborder Adephaga)

-Superfamily Caraboidea

-Ground Beetles (Family Carabidae)

-Tiger Beetles (Subfamily Cicindelinae)

-Tribe Cicindelini

-Subtribe Cicindelina

-Common Tiger Beetles (Genus Cicindela)

-Cicindelidia hydrophoba


Tiger beetles are easy to recognize due to their large, bugle eyes, thin bodies, long legs, and sickle-shaped mandibles. They are predatory insects with long legs that help them move extremely fast. Tiger beetles feed on spiders, other beetles, springtails, grasshoppers, flies, and ants.

Diet

  • Adults: Active predators of small arthropods, including ants, flies, beetles, bugs, and other small insects.

  • Larvae: Live in vertical soil burrows and ambush passing insects and other small invertebrates from the burrow entrance.

Range

  • Cicindelidia hydrophoba is a North American tiger beetle, occurring primarily in the southwestern United States and Mexico.

  • In Mexico, it is associated with arid and semi-arid regions, particularly in the north and west.

  • Its distribution is closely associated with suitable open, sparsely vegetated ground.

Habitat

  • Typically associated with dry, sandy or gravelly ground, including desert margins, dry riverbeds, washes, open woodland, scrubland, and disturbed areas.

  • Adults favour open ground where they can run rapidly while hunting and escape predators.

  • Larvae excavate burrows in suitable loose soil.

Size

  • Adult length: approximately 10–14 mm (0.4–0.55 in).

  • Body slender and long-legged, with large eyes and prominent curved mandibles typical of tiger beetles.

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