Cicindela trifasciata sigmoidea – Mudflat Tiger Beetle

Adult: 15-17mm.

Order Coleoptera/ Family Cicindelidae – Tiger Beetles

This species is common to salt marshes from coastal Baja California to central California and is also found around the Salton Sea. As all tiger beetles are, this one is a voracious hunter, preying mostly on brine flies of the family Ephydidae, but will take any prey which it can overpower. The mandibles, variously toothed according to species, are not only used for feeding, but are also used by the male of the species to grip the specialized female thoracic sulcus, or pit, during copulation. The males can often be seen riding the females en copula during late spring mating. The dark green coloring of this beetle is a good example of cryptic coloration, rendering this species almost imperceptible against the background of the dark mud on which it lives.

The remarkable larvae of tiger beetles live in vertical burrows which they enlarge as they grow. Clinging to the top of the burrow, they await passing prey with huge head held horizontally as to act like a lid. As the prey passes, they lunge, flipping backward, grasping it with their large mandibles to pull it into the burrow to feed. This action is aided by a pair of hooks on the fifth abdominal segment which secures the larva to the side of the burrow even with prey of superior strength.