South and Southeast Asia, including southern China.
Fine-art photographic collection
Cicindela (Calochroa) flavomaculata
A rice-paddy tiger beetle recorded overpowering worker ants on the field margins.
About this species
Cicindela (Calochroa) flavomaculataHope, 1831
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Cicindela flavomaculata is an Indian tiger beetle studied in rice-paddy agroecosystems. Field observations recorded it preying on major workers of Polyrhachis exercita on paddy bunds, placing the fast daylight hunter directly inside an agricultural food web.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Coleoptera · Carabidae · Cicindela
Accepted species in the subgenus Calochroa. · checked 2026-07-15
South and Southeast AsiaBroad documented range and selected reference localities — not a complete occurrence map.
What makes this species remarkable?
Field researchers recorded it attacking and eating major workers of the ant Polyrhachis exercita on rice-paddy bunds.
The species forms part of a generalist predator guild in rice fields, where it can take prey from the soil surface and the raised margins between paddies.
Its yellow spots flash against a dark body during pursuit, while the enlarged eyes and crossing jaws remain concentrated at the front of the running beetle.