Carnivorous, Fast, and Very Green

While at the NC Zoo, I spotted an iridescent insect flying around. At first, I thought it was an orchid bee (tribe Euglossini) because it was such a vibrant green. After I followed it to where it landed just about a foot off the path, I saw what it was: a six-spotted tiger beetle (Cicindela sexguttata). I have been looking for these for a while as I want to try and breed them. They are such a beautiful color and would be amazing candidates for a living display tank. I seem to have gotten lucky as I think it is a female, and she may be gravid. (If any entomologists with expertise in Cicindela come across this post, then feel free to validate or refute my choice.)

The beetle’s enclosure has a substrate comprised of a coconut fiber/sand mixture that I hope is conducive to oviposition. I have read that it is best to collect soil from the habitat where you find a tiger beetle, but she was not near a typical tiger beetle habitat and was flying erratically. There was a thick layer of leaves as well, so I do not think she was trying to oviposit. What I have read is that their larvae thrive in sandy soil. There was no sand nearby.

This beetle loves being hand-fed baby roaches and rice flour beetle larvae. I use tongs to give them to her, and she will run up to the tongs and energetically grab the food off of them. Just like my mantids, she is easy to hand-feed. Also, her diet is nearly identical to the diet of a mantis nymph. I have been giving her a good amount of food for her body size, and she is very active. Hopefully that translates into lots of oviposition.

The larvae burrow and only stick their mandibles above ground to trap prey. They can take a couple years to mature and pupate. Unfortunately, the adults only live a few months at most. During their entire life cycle, they are carnivorous. Their diminutive size means I must find small prey to give them. As I mentioned in the preceding paragraph, I am feeding my beetle baby roaches and rice flour beetle larvae. I tried Hydei fruit flies (Drosophila hydei), but they have the opposite problem: they are a little too small for her. The Ultimate Guide to Breeding Beetles by Orin McMonigle says that young Cicindela larvae require springtails because they are so small. Hopefully, my springtail colonies cooperate with me as I have had issues before with the populations crashing (of course, they do fine until I need to use them).

My six-spotted tiger beetle is an amazing little beetle. She seems quite intelligent (for an arthropod), and I hope I get the chance to raise more of these beetles.