tiger beetle
noun1
Any active, carnivorous beetle (species) of the subfamily Cicindelinae.
- Most tiger beetle larvae tunnel in the soil.
- I was myself very successful in one beautiful group of insects, the tiger-beetles, which seem more abundant and varied here than anywhere else in the Archipelago. I first met with them on a cutting in the road, where a hard clayey bank was partially overgrown with mosses and small ferns.1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume I, London: Macmillan and Co., page 409:
1 more example
- I also noticed a couple of tiger beetle larval burrows in the hard-packed sandy soil and found a long, thin plant stem to “fish” the larvae out.2022 May 14, Ted C. MacRae, Cupressaceae:
- Derived terms
- Carolina metallic tiger beetle