Bug FAQNorthern Barrens Tiger Beetle
Cicindela patruela · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Carabidae
Adult Northern Barrens Tiger Beetles are medium-sized, about 12 to 15 mm long, and shine metallic green with distinctive ivory bands across their wing covers, the middle band running straight across the elytra. They live in very specific habitats such as pine or oak barrens, pine-dominated savannahs, and places with lichen, moss, or eroded sandstone, and are native to eastern North America.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
They are metallic green with ivory bands that emerge from the radial field of the elytra, and the middle band typically runs straight across the wing covers.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Adults measure roughly 12 to 15 mm in length.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
They require very specific habitats such as pine or oak barrens, pine-dominated savannahs, and areas that contain lichen, moss, or eroded sandstone.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Larvae have a whitish body, a hardened head, and large mandibles they use to capture prey.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
The species completes its development over two years.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
The Northern Barrens Tiger Beetle is found in eastern North America.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
It can be confused with Cicindela patruela constenantea, which is metallic black but has the same ivory band pattern.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 25 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Wisconsin, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, Virginia, Kentucky.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in United States; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
What does the Northern Barrens Tiger Beetle look like?
Adults are metallic green, about 12 to 15 mm long, with ivory bands across the elytra, the middle band running straight across.
Source: Wikipedia
Where does this beetle live?
It lives in pine or oak barrens, pine-dominated savannahs, and places with lichen, moss, or eroded sandstone.
Source: Wikipedia
When are adults active?
Adults are active in late spring, mating and laying eggs in May-June, and they usually die by July.
Source: Wikipedia
What other beetle looks similar?
Cicindela patruela constenantea looks similar but is metallic black instead of green, with the same ivory band pattern.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Carabidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicindela_patruela
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.