Bug FAQCommon Claybank Tiger Beetle
Cicindela limbalis · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Carabidae
Also called: Green-margined Tiger Beetle
The common claybank tiger beetle is 12 to 16 mm long and its back is reddish-purple, sometimes dull green or brown. It lives on steep, moist bare clay slopes, often along river banks. An adult can live for about three years.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The beetle’s back is reddish-purple, but may appear dull green or brown.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Adults measure 12 to 16 mm (about 0.5 to 0.6 in) in length.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It is commonly found on steep, moist bare clay soil. Typical sites are bare clay slopes, often on river banks.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
An individual can live for three years.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
It has also been recorded in Newfoundland’s Bay of Islands.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 28 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Colorado, Minnesota, New York, Maine, Wisconsin, Ohio, Vermont, Iowa.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in Canada; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Same family (Carabidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicindela_limbalis
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-24.