Northeastern beach tiger beetle

Distribution and Habitat

Once abundant along coastal beaches from Martha’s Vineyard to New Jersey, the Northeastern beach tiger beetle has been extirpated from Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York. Only two natural populations of this beetle can be found north of the Chesapeake Bay, both in Massachusetts. Only one very small population exists in New Jersey, inside Gateway National Recreation Area. This small population only exists because of the ongoing efforts involving the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to translocate beetles.

Although there are no definable indicators of northeastern beach tiger beetle habitat, this species is found on long, wide, and relatively undisturbed sandy beaches of the Atlantic Coast and Chesapeake Bay (Hill and Knisley 1994).

Diet

Northeastern beach tiger beetles scavenge most of their meals. Their diet mostly includes marine invertebrates, crabs, and fish. They are very successful predators that utilize sickle-like mandibles to capture small amphipods, flies, and other beach arthropods such as spiders (USFWS 1994).

Life Cycle

Northeastern beach tiger beetles mate and lay eggs from late June through August. Females are thought to lay eggs at night in shallow burrows in the mid to high tide zone on coastal beaches. Beetle larvae emerge in late July and August and live in vertical burrows in sand where they wait for unsuspecting prey to pass by and capture. The larvae remain active into November, and then they hibernate during winter. Tiger beetle larvae emerge the following June as adults, but sometimes it may take up to two years for the larvae to fully develop.