The East Asian is a tiger beetle of Korea and China, 0.7–0.8 in (18–20 mm) long, with metallic green, red, and blue colors. It is not found in the US. On mountain trails it runs and flies a few yards ahead of walkers, lands, and repeats, which earned it a Korean name meaning "road guide" (gil-apjabi).
Appearance
- Appearance
- Adults are about 0.7–0.8 in (18–20 mm) long, with shimmering metallic green, coppery red, and blue-green colors and sharp jaws.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- mountain trails
- Range
- Native to East Asia, including Korea and China. It does not occur in the US, where other tiger beetle species live instead.
Behavior
- Diet
- A fast-running predator that grabs insects smaller than itself.
- Activity
- Active in sunshine during the day. In Korea adults are most often seen in April–May and again in August–September.
- Overwintering
- Its life cycle takes two years: it spends the first winter as a larva and the second as an adult.
Life cycle
- Larva
- As in other tiger beetles, the larva digs a straight burrow in the ground and waits at the entrance to ambush small passing insects such as ants and caterpillars.
Name and classification
- About the name
- Long known as Cicindela chinensis, it is now placed in the genus Sophiodela. The Japanese tiger beetle was once treated as a subspecies of it but is now considered a separate species.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
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