Usually about 10–11 mm long.
Fine-art photographic collection
Ellipsoptera lepida
A near-invisible predator whose shadow can be easier to see than the beetle itself.
About this species
Ghost Tiger Beetle
Ellipsoptera lepida(Dejean, 1831)
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Ellipsoptera lepida is a small pale tiger beetle restricted to loose white or pale-yellow sand with little vegetation. Its cream body and white hairs make it extraordinarily difficult to detect against dune and shoreline sand.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Coleoptera · Carabidae · Ellipsoptera
Accepted taxon. · checked 2026-07-15
scattered pale-sand habitats in eastern and central North AmericaBroad range and selected reference localities — not a complete occurrence map.
scattered pale-sand habitats in eastern and central North America
Deep, loose, sparsely vegetated sand on dunes, large lake shores, river deposits and coastal beaches.
Diurnal; adults are most visible during a short midsummer flight period.
Predatory on small arthropods running across the sand.
Solitary.
What makes this species remarkable?
Its camouflage is so effective on pale sand that field workers often spot the moving shadow before they can see the beetle itself.
The species needs open “sugar sand”; dune stabilisation and vegetation growth can make a site unsuitable even when the sand remains.
Storms, fire and carefully managed disturbance can recreate the bare early-successional habitat on which this rare beetle depends.