Festive Tiger Beetle Cicindela scutellaris Say, 1823 rugifrons Dejean, 1825S3 (Watch list)    Synonyms: Wrinkle-fronted Tiger Beetle.
Kingdom Animalia   >   Phylum Arthropoda   >   Class Insecta   >   Order Coleoptera   >   Family Carabidae   >   Genus Cicindela   

Status:

Cicindela scutellaris is a widespread, stocky tiger beetle characteristic of deep, well-drained sandy habitats, including pine barrens, sandy openings and trails, sparsely-used sandy roads, or powerline rights-of way. It is extremely variable by region, with a number of named forms across portions of its extensive range. In Maryland, the beetles present are considered to be rugifrons, which occurs from coastal North Carolina and Virginia northeast through southern New England. This is the only subspecies of scutellaris with two color morphs, a black morph (form "modesta") and a greenish-blue morph. The relative abundance of these morphs varies by locality (Pearson et al. 2015). Knisley found that black morphs predominate northeast of an imaginary line from northern Somerset to Ann Arundel County (Knisley & Schultz, 1997). Coastal populations in some portions of the range of rugifrons (probably the NJ pine barrens) appear to be overwhelmingly green morphs, while black morphs are more numerous farther from the immediate coast (Pearson et al., 2015). It is ranked S3 (watch list).

There are 108 records in the project database.

View images at BugGuide

View taxon at iNaturalist

View taxon at NatureServe

Search Google Images

Search MBP Facebook posts (beta | requires login)


[View seasonality details]
GAALWAFRCLMOHOBA BCHA CEPG AA CV CH SM KEQACN TADO WI SO WO 
A Festive Tiger Beetle in Worcester Co., Maryland (4/25/2009). Photo by Steve Collins. (MBP list)

Festive Tiger Beetle in Anne Arundel Co., Maryland (Date obscured). (c) Judy Gallagher, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC). Photo by Judy Gallagher. (MBP list)

A Festive Tiger Beetle in Worcester Co., Maryland (5/27/2017). Photo by Tim Friedlander. (MBP list)

A Festive Tiger Beetle in Dorchester Co., Maryland (9/1/2017). Photo by Mark Etheridge. (MBP list)

Festive Tiger Beetle in Worcester Co., Maryland (Date obscured). (c) Jim Brighton, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC). Photo by Jim Brighton. (MBP list)

A Festive Tiger beetle in Worcester Co., Maryland (4/25/2009). Photo by Steve Collins. (MBP list)

Festive Tiger Beetles mating in Worcester Co., Maryland (4/18/2017). Photo by Tim Friedlander. (MBP list)

Festive Tiger Beetle in Worcester Co., Maryland (Date obscured). (c) Jim Brighton, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC). Photo by Jim Brighton. (MBP list)

A Festive Tiger Beetle in Worcester Co., Maryland (4/21/2014). Photo by Mike Burchett. (MBP list)

Mating Festive Tiger Beetles in Caroline Co., Maryland (4/15/2010). Photo by Jim Stasz. (MBP list)

Festive Tiger Beetle in Anne Arundel Co., Maryland (3/24/2019). (c) Katja Schulz, some rights reserved (CC BY). Photo by Katja Schulz via iNaturalist. (MBP list)

Festive Tiger Beetle in Anne Arundel Co., Maryland (Date obscured). (c) Timothy Reichard, all rights reserved. Photo by Timothy Reichard. (MBP list)

Festive Tiger Beetle in Anne Arundel Co., Maryland (Date obscured). (c) Timothy Reichard, all rights reserved. Photo by Timothy Reichard. (MBP list)

Festive Tiger Beetles in Worcester Co., Maryland (4/15/2011). Photo by Jim Stasz. (MBP list)

Festive Tiger Beetles in Dorchester Co., Maryland (4/21/2015). Verified by Ben Coulter/BugGuide. Photo by Mark Etheridge. (MBP list)

A Festive Tiger Beetle in Anne Arundel Co., Maryland (4/11/2021). Verified by T. Hedlund/BugGuide. Photo by Jim Moore. (MBP list)

A Festive Tiger Beetle in Worcester Co., Maryland (9/2/2012). Photo by Bill Hubick. (MBP list)

Festive Tiger Beetle in Wicomico Co., Maryland (4/17/2011). (c) Mike Ostrowski, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA). Photo by Mike Ostrowski. (MBP list)

Festive Tiger Beetle in Anne Arundel Co., Maryland (5/15/2017). Photo by Tim Friedlander. (MBP list)

Festive Tiger Beetle in Anne Arundel Co., Maryland (Date obscured). (c) Timothy Reichard, all rights reserved. Photo by Timothy Reichard. (MBP list)

Festive Tiger Beetle in Anne Arundel Co., Maryland (Date obscured). (c) Timothy Reichard, all rights reserved. Photo by Timothy Reichard. (MBP list)

A Festive Tiger Beetle (rugifrons subspecies) in southern Anne Arundel Co., Maryland (4/21/2013). Photo by Judy Gallagher. (MBP list)

A Festive Tiger Beetle in Dorchester Co., Maryland (8/25/2013). Photo by Jared Satchell. (MBP list)

Festive Tiger Beetle in Worcester Co., Maryland (5/6/2023). (c) scottyastro, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC). Photo by Scott Housten. (MBP list)

A female Festive Tiger Beetle collected in Anne Arundel Co., Maryland (4/5/1984). Photo by Frank Guarnieri. (MBP list)

A female Festive Tiger Beetle collected in Anne Arundel Co., Maryland (4/5/1986). Photo by Frank Guarnieri. (MBP list)


View All Images

Use of images featured on Maryland Biodiversity Project is only permitted with express permission of the photographer.