Texas Beetle Information

Return to Texas Entomology - Compiled by Mike Quinn

South Texas Giant Tiger Beetle

Amblycheila hoversoni Gage, 1990

Family Carabidae, Subfamily Cicindelinae, Tribe Omini

Webb County, Texas
(Dan Sundberg)

Texas County Records for Amblycheila hoversoni

County Record Source: Pearson et al. 2005

Range: South and West Texas, not yet collected in Mexico.

Size: 32-36 mm (1.3-1.4 inches)

Adult Activity Period: April to November, except June. Most active after rainy periods in the spring and fall.

Behavior:

Adults completely nocturnal and flightless. They are mostly seen after midnight running near animal burrows which they retreat into during the day.
Larvae have been found in the ceilings (!) of badger and armadillo burrows!

Survey Methods: Giant Tiger Beetles are not attracted to lights at night...

Commercial Value: The Insect Company, Insects International

Conservation Status: G3 NatureServe

Type Specimen: Amblycheila hoversoni Gage - Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University

Type Locality: 16 miles south of George West, Live Oak County, Texas - 1 May 1990

Note: This is the Largest Tiger Beetle in the Western Hemisphere yet it was only described by Ed V. Gage in 1991!

Similar Species: There are some 57 species and subspecies of Cicindelinae in Texas (E.G. Riley, pers. comm., 2006)

Tribe Omini:

Giant Tiger Beetles, Genus Amblycheila, seven species five of which occur north of Mexico.

Montane Giant Tiger Beetle - Amblycheila baroni

Giant Plains Tiger Beetle - Amblycheila cylindriformis - Texas

South Texas Giant Tiger Beetle - Amblycheila hoversoni - Texas

Plateau Giant Tiger Beetle - Amblycheila picolominii - Texas

Mojave Giant Tiger Beetle - Amblycheila schwarzi

Night-stalking Tiger Beetles, Genus Omus - Least well known Tiger Beetle genus, all occur on the West Coast.

Audouin's Night-stalking Tiger Beetle - Omus audouini

California Night-stalking Tiger Beetle - Omus californicus

Mount Ashland Night-stalking Tiger Beetle - Omus cazieri

Greater Night-stalking Tiger Beetle - Omus dejeanii

Lustrous Night-stalking Tiger Beetle - Omus submetallicus

Dromo Tiger Beetles, Subgenus Dromochorus, three species, all restricted to south-central North America.

Loamy-ground Tiger Beetle - Cicindela (Dromochorus) belfragei (includes: pruinina) - Texas
Cajun Tiger Beetle - Cicindela (Dromochorus) pilatei - Texas
Velvet Tiger Beetle - Cicindela (Dromochorus) velutinigrens - Texas

Etymology:

Amblycheila
ambl, -y (G). Blunt
cheil, -o =us (G). A lip

Omus
om, -o (G). The shoulder;
raw, unripe

Cicindela
cicindel, =a (L).
A glowworm

Dromochorus
drom, -a, -ae, -aeo, -i, -o, =us (G). Run; running; a race
chor, -o (L). Achorus; (G). dance; a place

References:

Arnett, R.H., Jr., & M.C. Thomas. (editors). 2000. American Beetles. Volume 1. Archostemmata, Myxophaga, Adephaga, Polyphaga: Staphyliniformia. CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, FL. xvi + 443 pp.

Borror, D.J. 1960. Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining Forms. National Press Books, Palo Alto. 134 pp.

Freitag, R.P. 1999. Catalogue of the tiger beetles of Canada and the United States. National Research Council Research Press, Ottawa, Canada. 195 pp.

Gage, E.V. 1990. Description of a new species of Amblycheila from Texas with additional notes. (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae).
Cicindelidae: Bulletin of Worldwide Research 1(1): 1-10.

Knisley, C.B., & T.D. Schultz. 1997. The biology of tiger beetles and a guide to the species of the south Atlantic states. Virginia Museum of Natural History Special Publication Number 5. Virginia Museum of Natural History, Martinsville, Virginia. 210 pp.

Pearson, D.L. 2004. A list of suggested common English names for species of tiger beetles occurring in Canada and the U.S. Cicindela 36(1-2): 31-40.

Pearson, D.L., T.G. Barraclough, & A.P. Vogler. 1997. Distributional maps for North American species of tiger beetles (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae). Cicindela. 29(3-4): 33-84.