Adults are roughly 17–24 mm long.
Fine-art photographic collection
Tetracha spixii opulenta
A large nocturnal riverbank hunter from Bolivia that can combine metallic warning colour with the cyanogenic chemical arsenal of giant tiger beetles.
About this species
Tetracha spixii opulentaNaviaux, 2007
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Tetracha spixii opulenta is a Bolivian form of the widespread South American tiger beetle Tetracha spixii. Adults are large, metallic and principally nocturnal, hunting rapidly on open ground and sandy river margins.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Coleoptera · Carabidae · Cicindelinae · Tetracha
Accepted taxon. · checked 2026-07-15
Bolivia; the wider species occurs across western and central South AmericaBroad range and selected reference localities — not a complete occurrence map.
Bolivia; the wider species occurs across western and central South America
Sandy riverbanks, open wet ground and lowland forest clearings.
Nocturnal ground-running predator.
Insects and other surface-active arthropods.
Solitary.
What makes this species remarkable?
It reverses the familiar tiger-beetle timetable: rather than hunting under fierce sun, adults race across exposed river ground after dark and disappear beneath cover when illuminated.
Giant tiger beetles in the Tetracha lineage manufacture benzaldehyde from a cyanogenic precursor, linking their characteristic odour to a chemical pathway capable of releasing cyanide defence.
The metallic surface is useful at night as well as decorative; a sudden flash under moonlight or torchlight makes a fast-running body difficult to track continuously across broken ground.
Sources and scientific references
- GBIF — taxon record/search for Tetracha spixii opulenta
- Catalogue of Life — taxon search for Tetracha spixii opulenta
- Pearson monograph account of Tetracha spixii and nocturnal river-beach ecology
- Primary study of the cyanogenic basis of tiger-beetle defensive secretions
- Neotropical tiger-beetle checklist and distribution