Puritan Tiger Beetle
One of America’s rarest tiger beetles survives along exposed banks of the Connecticut River and Chesapeake Bay—nowhere between them.
Artwork inspired by Fidelia Bridges
Puritan tiger beetles live in two separated populations: eroding river bluffs beside the Connecticut River and sandy shoreline habitat along Chesapeake Bay. Adults sprint and fly across bare sand to hunt small arthropods, while larvae wait in vertical burrows and seize passing prey.
More than ninety-nine percent of the New England population occurs in Connecticut. Bank stabilization, trampling, vegetation growth, altered river processes, and poorly timed recreation can remove the shifting open sand both life stages require. The beetle is best appreciated through agency interpretation rather than a location hunt on fragile occupied banks.
- Range
- Connecticut River and Chesapeake Bay
- Adult season
- Late June through August
- Microhabitat
- Open eroding sand
Quick guide
- Notice
- Metallic bronze-green above pale markings.
- Protect
- Stay off signed bluffs and larval sand.
Read a tiger beetle without entering habitat
- Movement
- Adults run in bursts and fly a short distance when approached.
- Pattern
- Pale curved marks interrupt the darker metallic wing covers.
- Ground
- Occupied sites retain sunny open sand rather than continuous vegetation.
- Scale
- Use binoculars or a long lens; close pursuit damages more than it reveals.
Good to know
Several tiger beetles share metallic color and pale marks. Exact river system, bank form, season, and expert confirmation are necessary; a distant photograph alone is not proof.
Notice these
- Bronze-green wing covers
- Pale curved markings
- Long running legs