COLEOPTERA > ADEPHAGA > Carabidae > Cicindelinae (Tiger beetles)

Closely related to the Dytiscidae diving beetles, the third largest family (after the Staphylinidae Rove beetles and Curculionidae Weevils) Carabidae includes over 360 species of mostly ground-dwelling beetles that were traditionally separated into numerous subfamilies. Some listings continue to use this arrangement (including the 'UK Beetles' website which, at the time of writing, separates the British species into 17 subfamilies) whilst others, notably the 'UK Beetle Recording Scheme' now only recognises four. I initially followed the traditional subfamily approach until I purchased the 'RES Carabidae (ground beetles) of Britain and Ireland' identification handbook (second edition) by Martin Luff, which utilises the simplified classification where the majority of British species are now in the Carabinae.

The current arrangement retains the Cicindelinae, Omophroninae and Brachinae subfamilies as referred to below, albeit with an emphasis on the Cicindelinae, and groups all the remaining species within the Carabinae, where the former subfamilies are now tribes.

Cicindelinae includes a distinctive and sought after group of five predatory species known as Tiger beetles. They used to be treated as a separate family, but are now considered a distinct subfamily of the Carabidae. They are all categorised as 'rare' apart from the so-called common Green Tiger Beetle [Cicindela campestris], which I had seen, but had never photographed properly until, coincidently, I took the shots featured below just after updating this page.

The Northern Dune Tiger Beetle [Cicindela hybrida] is largely confined to a few coastal sand dune and heathland sites in the north-east. Interestingly though, the remaining three species, the Dune Tiger Beetle [Cicindela maritima], Heath Tiger Beetle [Cicindela sylvatica] and Cliff Tiger Beetle [Cylindera germanica] have all been recorded locally in Dorset. That said, the few locations where any of these species may be found are not generally published, so it could be a while before I'm able to include either of the two I haven't yet seen.

Fortunately, I was able to find a few Heath Tiger Beetles down at Slepe Heath on the Isle of Purbeck where there's a particular area where they can often be seen. They're pretty much unmistakable, described as being 14-18mm long, dark brown in colour with a feint metallic appearance, and with distinctive narrow wavy cream markings on the elytra. As with all tiger beetles, the eyes are huge, the mandibles sharp and menacing, and the legs long and adapted for rapid movement.

They are extremely skittish and very difficult to approach, but during the course of a few visits I was able to put together a few decent shots. By crawling around in the sand on my belly I managed to get quite close on occasions, but despite spending a fair amount of time observing them I didn't once see them catching prey.

Cicindela sylvatica has priority status under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (UK BAP) and has been included in English Nature's Species Recovery Programme. Although they may be present at other locations, there are only four known populations on Dorset heaths and two on Surrey heaths.

The Omophroninae subfamily contains but a single, rare, semi-aquatic species that has only been recorded from a couple of locations in the south east and Norfolk.

One of the species I'd like to see is the nationally scarce Bombardier Beetle [Brachinus crepitans] that could be found on some of Dorset's chalk grasslands or at coastal quarries. This particular beetle, along with a much rarer species Brachinus sclopeta, are the sole members of the third subfamily, Brachininae.

The Carabinae are looked at separately on the following pages.

Updated, Jan.24 (v.2)