Great Sand Dunes tiger beetle
A beetle found nowhere else on Earth but the Great Sand Dunes, hunting ants and mites across the open sand in a coat with a violin-shaped pattern.
Great Sand Dunes tiger beetle at a glance
Cicindela theatina also called the Colorado dune tiger beetle; Cicindela theatina is sih-SIN-duh-luh thee-uh-TY-nuh
- Type
- Invertebrate · beetles
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Size
- About three-quarters of an inch long (13 millimeters), roughly the length of a paperclip.
- Lifespan
- Not documented in detail for this species; most of a tiger beetle's life happens underground as a larva, with adults active on the surface for only part of the year.
- Conservation
- NatureServe Global Rank G1, critically imperiled
Eats ants, other small beetles, mites, dead insects it finds on the sand
Adults run the open sand hunting down ants, small beetles, and mites, and will also scavenge a dead insect if it hasn't dried out too much. Larvae stay put in a burrow they dig in the sand and grab prey that walks past the entrance.
Should you worry?
Harmless to people. It cannot sting, and while it could pinch a finger if handled, it has no reason to. The real risk runs the other way: stay off the open sand where beetles are foraging and off their burrows so you don't crush one.
Out past where the footprints stop, the open sand looks empty until something moves faster than a beetle should. It darts a few inches, stops dead, darts again, and if you’re close enough you catch the pattern on its back: a brown violin outlined in ivory, colored like the sand it’s standing on. This is the Great Sand Dunes tiger beetle, and it exists nowhere else on the planet.
It also lives two different lives depending on how old it is. As a larva, it digs a burrow in the sand and ambushes whatever ant, beetle, or mite wanders past. As an adult, that patience is gone. It runs the open sand at a sprint, chasing down the same ants, beetles, and mites out in the open, with a burst of short, fast flight when running isn’t quick enough.
Every one of these beetles, ambush hunter or open-ground sprinter, lives inside this one park’s dunefield and sand sheet, and nowhere else on Earth. Watch the sand ahead of your shoes a little longer than you’d think to, past the crowded main trail, where the tracks thin out and the beetles still have room to run.
Did you know?
- This beetle is one of at least seven kinds of insect found only at Great Sand Dunes and nowhere else on the planet.
- Its back carries a brown, violin-shaped pattern rimmed in ivory, colored to match the sand it runs across, while its head and thorax gleam metallic blue-green.
- It lives a double life: as a larva it is a trapdoor hunter, ambushing prey from a burrow, and as an adult it becomes a fast open-ground runner and short-distance flier that chases its food down instead.
Common questions
Where can you find the Great Sand Dunes tiger beetle?
Only at Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. It lives nowhere else on Earth.
What does the Great Sand Dunes tiger beetle eat?
Ants, other small beetles, and mites that cross the open sand, and it will also eat a dead insect if it isn't too dried out.
Does the Great Sand Dunes tiger beetle bite?
It is harmless to people. It could pinch if you picked one up, so the better plan is to watch it run across the sand instead.
Why is it only found in one place?
It is endemic, meaning it evolved to live in this exact dune and sand-sheet habitat and hasn't spread, or couldn't survive, anywhere else.
How do you tell it apart from other tiger beetles?
Look for a brown, violin-shaped pattern rimmed in ivory on its back and a shiny blue-green head and thorax.