''Cicindela'', commonly known as common tiger beetles, are generally brightly colored and metallic beetles, often with some sort of patterning of ivory or cream-colored markings. They are most abundant and diverse in habitats very often near bodies of water with sandy or occasionally clay soils; they can be found along rivers, sea and lake shores, sand dunes, around dry lakebeds, on clay banks, or woodland paths.

Etymology

The word "''Cicindela''" comes from the Latin word "cicindela", meaning "glowworm". This comes from the fact that members of the genus ''Cicindela'' are metallic and sometimes flashing.

Systematics

The genus ''Cicindela'' is (in its broadest historical sense) the largest genus of tiger beetles, and they occur worldwide. The status of the genus is constantly in a state of flux, as various authorities on different continents have vastly different opinions about which (if any) of the dozens of subgenus, subgenera traditionally recognized within the genus are deserving of being accorded status as independent genera. Moreover, this is one of the few insect taxa in which the rank of subspecies has traditionally been used repeatedly, and essentially no two classifications consistently treat the various members of the genus as to which are species and which are subspecies. Treated as a single genus, and even with a fairly conservative estimate of species, there are over 850 (or even up to 2,300) species in the groupProença, S.J.R, Cytogenetic variability in three species of the genus Cicindela (s.l.) (Coleoptera, Cicindelidae): Karyotypes and localization of 18S rDNA genes.Genetics and Molecular Biology, 27, 4, 555-560 (2004) (thus being almost equal to the subtribe Cicindelina (Walther Hermann Richard Horn, W.Horn, 1908), with several thousand published names applied, collectively. Currently most of the subgenera below are not settled, being considered genera of their own by some, and subgenera of the genus ''Cicindela'' by others. The genus is divided into the following subgenera: *''Cicindela (Ancylia)'' *''Cicindela (Archidela)'' *''Cicindela (Austrocicindela)'' *''Cicindela (Brasiella)'' *''Cicindela (Calochroa)'' *''Cicindela (Calomera)'' *''Cicindela (Cephalota)'' *''Cicindela (Chaetodera)'' *''Cicindela (subgenus), Cicindela (Cicindela)'' *''Cicindela (Cicindelidia)'' *''Cicindela (Cosmodela)'' *''Cicindela (Cylindera)'' *''Cicindela (Duponti)'' *''Cicindela (Euzona)'' *''Cicindela (Fulgoris)'' *''Cicindela (Habroscelimorpha)'' *''Cicindela (Hypaetha)'' *''Cicindela (Jansonia)'' *''Cicindela (Lophyridia)'' *''Cicindela (Macfarlandia)'' *''Cicindela (Micromentignatha)'' *''Cicindela (Myriochile)'' *''Cicindela (Neolaphyra)'' *''Cicindela (Opilidia)'' *''Cicindela (Pachydela)'' *''Cicindela (Pancallia)'' *''Cicindela (Rivacindela)'' *''Cicindela (Sophiodela)'' *''Cicindela (Tribonia)'' For a list of species, see List of Cicindela species, List of ''Cicindela'' species. The subgenus ''Cicindela (Cicindela)'', or ''Cicindela'' ''sensu stricto'' contains the following species: *''Cicindela albissima'' Rumpp, 1962 *''Cicindela altaica'' Eschscholtz, 1829 *''Cicindela amargosae'' Dahl, 1939 *''Cicindela ancocisconensis'' T.W.Harris, 1852 *''Cicindela arenicola'' Rumpp, 1967 *''Cicindela arida'' A.C.Davis, 1928 *''Cicindela asiatica'' Audouin & Brullé, 1839 *''Cicindela bellissima'' Leng, 1902 *''Cicindela campestris'' Linnaeus, 1758 *''Cicindela carolae'' Gage & McKown, 1991 *''Cicindela clypeata'' Fischer von Waldheim, 1821 *''Cicindela coerulea'' Pallas, 1773 *''Cicindela colasiana'' Deuve, 2019 *''Cicindela columbica'' Hatch, 1938 *''Cicindela cyprensis'' Mandl, 1944 *''Cicindela decemnotata'' Say, 1817 *''Cicindela denikei'' Brown, 1934 *''Cicindela denverensis'' Casey, 1897 *''Cicindela depressula'' Casey, 1897 *''Cicindela desertorum'' Dejean, 1825 *''Cicindela duodecimguttata'' Dejean, 1825 *''Cicindela formosa'' Say, 1817 *''Cicindela fulgida'' Say, 1823 *''Cicindela gallica'' Brullé, 1834 *''Cicindela gemmata'' Faldermann, 1835 *''Cicindela georgiensis'' Deuve, 2011 *''Cicindela granulata'' Gebler, 1843 *''Cicindela herbacea'' Klug, 1832 *''Cicindela hirticollis'' Say, 1817 *''Cicindela hybrida'' Linnaeus, 1758 *''Cicindela iberica'' Mandl, 1935 *''Cicindela japana'' Motschulsky, 1858 *''Cicindela javetii'' Chaudoir, 1861 *''Cicindela lacteola'' Pallas, 1776 *''Cicindela lagunensis'' Gautier des Cottes, 1872 *''Cicindela latesignata'' LeConte, 1851 *''Cicindela lengi'' W.Horn, 1908 *''Cicindela lewisii'' Bates, 1873 *''Cicindela limbalis'' Klug, 1834 *''Cicindela limbata'' Say, 1823 *''Cicindela longilabris'' Say, 1824 *''Cicindela lusitanica'' Mandl, 1935 *''Cicindela majalis'' Mandl, 1935 *''Cicindela maritima'' Dejean, 1822 *''Cicindela maroccana'' Fabricius, 1801 *''Cicindela monticola'' Ménétriés, 1832 *''Cicindela montreuli'' Deuve, 2012 *''Cicindela nebraskana'' Casey, 1909 *''Cicindela nigrior'' Schaupp, 1884 *''Cicindela nordmanni'' Chaudoir, 1848 *''Cicindela ohlone'' Freitag & Kavanaugh, 1993 *''Cicindela oregona'' LeConte, 1856 *''Cicindela parowana'' Wickham, 1905 *''Cicindela patruela'' Dejean, 1825 *''Cicindela pimeriana'' LeConte, 1867 *''Cicindela plutonica'' Casey, 1897 *''Cicindela pugetana'' Casey, 1914 *''Cicindela pulchra'' Say, 1823 *''Cicindela punctulata'' Olivier, 1790 *''Cicindela purpurea'' Olivier, 1790 *''Cicindela repanda'' Dejean, 1825 *''Cicindela resplendens'' Dokhtouroff, 1887 *''Cicindela restricta'' Fischer von Waldheim, 1828 *''Cicindela rhodoterena'' Tschitscherine, 1903 *''Cicindela sachalinensis'' A.Morawitz, 1862 *''Cicindela sahlbergii'' Fischer von Waldheim, 1824 *''Cicindela scutellaris'' Say, 1823 *''Cicindela senilis'' G.Horn, 1867 *''Cicindela sexguttata'' Fabricius, 1775 *''Cicindela soluta'' Dejean, 1822 *''Cicindela songorica'' Motschulsky, 1845 *''Cicindela splendida'' Hentz, 1830 *''Cicindela sylvatica'' Linnaeus, 1758 *''Cicindela sylvicola'' Dejean, 1822 *''Cicindela talychensis'' Chaudoir, 1846 *''Cicindela tenuicincta'' Schaupp, 1884 *''Cicindela theatina'' Rotger, 1944 *''Cicindela tranquebarica'' Herbst, 1806 *''Cicindela transbaicalica'' Motschulsky, 1844 *''Cicindela transversalis'' Dejean, 1822 *''Cicindela turkestanica'' Ballion, 1871 *''Cicindela waynei'' Leffler, 2001 *''Cicindela willistoni'' LeConte, 1879

Gallery

File:Cicindela depressula ssp depressula Washington 081015.jpg, ''Cicindela depressula ssp depressula'' File:Cicindela duponti in Kadavoor.jpg, ''Cicindela duponti'' Image:Cicindelid bangalore.jpg, ''Cicindela aurofasciata'' Image:Cicindela.campestris.1809.jpg, ''Cicindela campestris'' Image:Cicindela chinensis flammifera MHNT.ZOO.2004.0.175.jpg, ''Cicindela chinensis'' Image:Dünen-Sandlaufkäfer.jpg, ''Cicindela hybrida'' File:Cicindela marginata Fabricius - ZooKeys-245-001-g012.jpeg, ''Cicindela marginata'' Image:Salt Creek Tiger Beetle.jpg, ''Cicindela nevadica lincolniana'' Image:Green tiger beetle 1.jpg, ''Cicindela sexguttata'' Image:Cicindela sexguttata - six-spotted tiger beetle - desc-iridescent in sunlight on ground.jpg, ''Cicindela sexguttata'' Image:Cicindela sylvicola01.jpg, ''Cicindela sylvicola'' File:Cicindela tranquebarica.jpg, ''Cicindela tranquebarica'' File:Cicindela albissima.jpg, ''Cicindela albissima'' File:Cicindela clypeata.jpg, ''Cicindela clypeata''

Notes

References

* ''Northeastern Tiger Beetles: A Field Guide to Tiger Beetles of New England and Eastern Canada'' by Jonathan G. Leonard and Ross T. Bell. CRC Press (1999). * ''Tiger Beetles of Alberta: Killers on the Clay, Stalkers on the Sand'' by John Acorn. University of Alberta Press, 2001. * ''Tiger Beetles: The Evolution, Ecology, and Diversity of the Cicindelids'' by David L. Pearson and Alfried P. Vogler. Cornell University Press, 2001. * ''A Field Guide to the Tiger Beetles of the United States and Canada'' by David L. Pearson, C. Barry Knisley and Charles J. Kazilek. Oxford University Press, 2005.

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q4165862 Cicindela, Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus