Bug FAQTwelve-spotted Tiger Beetle
Cicindela duodecimguttata · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Carabidae
The beetle is about 12 to 15 mm long and has a dark brown to black color. Its wing covers usually show twelve distinct spots. It lives in wet areas such as river edges, moist trails, roads and paths across eastern North America, except the far southeastern coastal plain and most of Florida.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Most individuals have twelve spots on their elytra.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Adults measure 12 to 15 mm (0.47 to 0.59 in) in length and are dark brown to black.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 42 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Ohio, Vermont, Oklahoma, Colorado, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Iowa, Maine.
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
Questions people ask
How big does the twelve-spotted tiger beetle get?
It grows to about 12 to 15 mm long and is dark brown to black.
Source: Wikipedia
Where is this beetle commonly found?
It lives in wet places like river edges, moist trails, roads and paths across eastern North America, except the far southeastern coastal plain and most of Florida.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Carabidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicindela_duodecimguttata
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.