Adults are approximately 18–25 mm long.
Fine-art photographic collection
Phaeoxantha bucephala
A broad-headed South American tiger beetle whose name, range and genus were all rewritten by modern revision.
About this species
Phaeoxantha bucephala(W. Horn, 1909)
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Phaeoxantha bucephala is a large Neotropical tiger beetle from the Chaco and surrounding regions. The CSV spelling “Phaexantha” is incorrect; the accepted genus is Phaeoxantha.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Coleoptera · Carabidae · Cicindelinae · Phaeoxantha
Accepted taxon. · checked 2026-07-15
Northern Argentina, Bolivia, south-western Brazil and ParaguayBroad range and selected reference localities — not a complete occurrence map.
Northern Argentina, Bolivia, south-western Brazil and Paraguay
Warm open ground, dry forest edges and river-basin landscapes including the Chaco.
Fast-running predator, often active in warm low light.
Large arthropod prey relative to smaller tiger beetles.
Solitary.
What makes this species remarkable?
The correct name is Phaeoxantha bucephala: the missing “o” in the CSV changes the genus, while a 2023 revision rebuilt the nomenclature of this entire Neotropical group.
Its range forms a broad Chaco arc through Argentina, Bolivia, south-western Brazil and Paraguay; a 2014 study added a new Argentine provincial record and mapped the distribution specimen by specimen.
The name bucephala means “ox-headed”, reflecting a massive head filled with jaw muscle and bearing mandibles proportionally capable of handling far larger prey than the delicate runners around it.