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Black yet colorful ground beetle?
Location:  Fairfield, Maine USA
August 28, 2010 10:33 am
Dear Bugman,
I think it’s a ground beetle, only because I found it crawling around on the ground. It looked sdull black at first but actually has iridescent/opalescent areas all over it. Do you know what this bug is?
Thanks,
James R

Twelve Spotted Tiger Beetle

Hi James,
We really must abandon the computer this morning and go outside.  This is a Tiger Beetle in the subfamily Cicindelinae (see BugGuide) and most likely the genus Cicindela.  You may want to browse through BugGuide’s pages of species to try to identify your beetle.  Many Tiger Beetles look similar to one another, but they have very limited ranges which sometimes aids in the identification.
P.S.  Was this photographed today?  If you are searching through your archives of photographs to send, please include information on when the sighting occurred as some insects are very limited in their seasons.

Twelve Spotted Tiger Beetle

Hi Daniel,
This was taken about one day ago…
Thanks,
James

Thanks James,
That might be very helpful information as certain species of Tiger Beetles only appear in the spring.

Update: August 31, 2010
James provided a comment after browsing through the Tiger Beetles on BugGuide and he properly identified his Twelve Spotted Tiger Beetle, Cicindela duodecimguttata.  The data page on BugGuide indicates many sightings in August.

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