Adults are roughly 16–23 mm long.
Fine-art photographic collection
Dromica costata
A flightless African tiger beetle that has exchanged wings for armour and explosive ground speed.
About this species
Dromica costata(Péringuey, 1892)
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Dromica costata is a southern African tiger beetle built for life on foot. Its compact, heavily sculptured body and reduced flight capacity suit open ground where prey is chased rather than intercepted from the air.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Coleoptera · Carabidae · Cicindelinae · Dromica
Accepted taxon. · checked 2026-07-15
Botswana and South AfricaBroad range and selected reference localities — not a complete occurrence map.
Botswana and South Africa
Dry savannah, open woodland, bare soil and sandy tracks.
Diurnal ground-running predator in warm conditions.
Small insects and other arthropods seized with the mandibles.
Solitary predator.
What makes this species remarkable?
This species belongs to a flightless or near-flightless African lineage, so every hunt, escape and dispersal event depends on running rather than taking off.
Its deeply ribbed wing cases act like armour while the long legs hold the body clear of hot ground, allowing rapid pursuit across exposed soil where hiding places are scarce.
Because it cannot simply fly over unsuitable habitat, roads, cultivation and broken patches of savannah can isolate populations far more severely than they would a winged tiger beetle.