Common Name – Six-spotted Tiger Beetle

 

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Insecta

Order: Coleoptera

Family: Cicindelidae

 

These beetles are the color of small, shiny, emeralds.  They have a beautiful, metallic, emerald, green color with six white spots along the side edges of the wing coverings.  While emerald colors are typical, some individuals are purple with blue hues instead of green.  They also have white, feathery hairs on the upper legs. 

At the front of the head are two menacing mandibles that are used to capture and consume food/prey.  Six-spotted tiger beetles are active hunters and agile fliers.  They will often hide in or on plants using their coloration and camouflage.  They have long legs and will easily chase down prey insects.  Their diet consists primarily of insects including, moths, ants, crickets, spiders and grasshoppers.  Not only are they fast and nimble on the ground, they are extremely swift within the air, often times, catching prey on the wing.