Cicindela columbica

Columbia River tiger beetle
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Carabidae
Subfamily: Cicindelinae
Genus: Cicindela
Species: C. columbica
Binomial name
Cicindela columbica
Hatch, 1938

Cicindela columbica is a species of beetle in the tiger beetle subfamily, Cicindelinae, known commonly as the Columbia River tiger beetle. It is endemic to Idaho in the United States.[1]

Today the beetle is probably restricted to the Lower Salmon River system in Idaho.[1] Its range once extended into Oregon and Washington, but it has been extirpated from these states by the installation of dams on the Columbia River.[2]

This beetle lives on sand bars and river beaches, especially near dunes, hunting and consuming smaller arthropods. The larvae are also predatory, hiding in sand burrows for prey. Damming of the rivers has affected water levels, inundating their river bank habitat and causing widespread loss of populations.[1]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Kinsley, B. 2014. Cicindela columbica. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.2. Downloaded on 26 August 2014.
  2. Tiger beetles: Columbia River tiger beetle (Cicindela columbica). The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.