Bug FAQPuritan Tiger Beetle
Ellipsoptera puritana · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Carabidae
It lives on sandy beaches, rocky river cliffs and other wetland edges in Massachusetts, Maryland and Connecticut, and its two-year life cycle ends with adults emerging in mid-July and dying by late August. Adults hunt small invertebrates such as amphipods, flies, ants and other arthropods, and they also scavenge dead crustaceans and fish.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Their wings range in color from bronze-brown to green. They have noticeably bulging eyes. A cream-white pattern outlines the margins of their wing covers.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Adults can grow up to about 0.56 inches long.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
They are found on sandy beaches and rocky river cliffs in Massachusetts, Maryland and Connecticut. They also inhabit terrestrial wetlands such as rivers, streams, creeks and waterfalls.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
They also eat small Diptera and other arthropods, and scavenge dead crustaceans and fish.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
The beetle has a two-year life cycle. Larvae pupate in the second May after hatching and adults emerge by the end of June.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
The species occurs in North America, specifically in only three U.S. states.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 5 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
How can I recognize a Puritan tiger beetle?
Look for a medium-sized beetle about half an inch long with bronze-brown to green wings, bulging eyes, and a cream-white border along the wing covers.
Source: Wikipedia
Where might I find a Puritan tiger beetle?
They live on sandy beaches, rocky river cliffs and wetland edges such as rivers, streams, creeks and waterfalls in Massachusetts, Maryland and Connecticut.
Source: Wikipedia
What does a Puritan tiger beetle eat?
It hunts small invertebrates like amphipods, flies, ants and other arthropods, and also scavenges dead crustaceans and fish.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Carabidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellipsoptera_puritana
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-28 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-28.