Europe and temperate western Eurasia
Fine-art photographic collection
Cicindela (Cicindela) hybrida
A dune predator that emerges only when the sand reaches its preferred operating temperature.
About this species
Northern Dune Tiger Beetle
Cicindela (Cicindela) hybridaLinnaeus, 1758
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Cicindela hybrida is a northern European dune tiger beetle specialised for open sand. Its activity is governed by temperature, with burrows acting as both refuge and thermal control system.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Coleoptera · Carabidae · Cicindela
Accepted taxon. · checked 2026-07-15
Europe and temperate western EurasiaBroad documented range and selected reference localities — not a complete occurrence map.
Dry open sand, dunes, heathland tracks and riverine sand.
Diurnal; adults run and fly rapidly over bare ground.
Predatory on small arthropods.
What makes this species remarkable?
Adults begin emerging when the burrow entrance reaches about nineteen degrees Celsius and are most active on ground heated to roughly thirty-five to forty-two degrees.
They raise or lower the body on the legs and move between sun, shade and burrows to hold body temperature near the level needed for high-speed pursuit.
Larval burrows can descend twenty to thirty centimetres into sand, creating a deep buffered chamber beneath a surface that changes temperature by tens of degrees.
More photographs
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