Fine-art photographic collection

Heptodonta pulchella (Hope, 1831)

A tiger beetle that vanished as a valid species when a modern revision proved it was another species in disguise.

About this species

Heptodonta pulchella(Hope, 1831)

Information reviewed15 July 2026

The photographed gallery label Heptodonta ferrarii is now placed in synonymy under Heptodonta pulchella. The profile preserves that historical identity while using the accepted name established by a modern revision of the genus.

Taxonomy

Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Coleoptera · Carabidae · Cicindelinae · Heptodonta

Accepted species; the gallery name Heptodonta ferrarii is a junior synonym. · checked 2026-07-15

Mainland Southeast Asia; the historic ferrarii material belongs within the range of Heptodonta pulchellaBroad range and selected reference localities — not a complete occurrence map.

Size

Adults are approximately 13–18 mm long.

Distribution

Mainland Southeast Asia; the historic ferrarii material belongs within the range of Heptodonta pulchella

Habitat

Humid forest paths, river margins and open ground within tropical forest.

Activity

Day-active visual predator.

Diet

Small arthropods.

Social structure

Solitary.

What makes this species remarkable?

For more than a century ferrarii was treated as a separate tiger beetle; direct comparison of the type material showed that its supposed differences fall inside the variation of Heptodonta pulchella.

The revision designated a lectotype, turning one historical specimen into the permanent name-bearing reference against which every future identification of the ferrarii form must be tested.

The same 2020 study rebuilt Heptodonta into fifteen valid species and described six as new, showing that this photographed individual belongs to a genus whose boundaries were still being redrawn almost 190 years after H. pulchella was named.

Sources and scientific references