Glowworm Beetle vs Salt Creek Tiger Beetle

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Glowworm Beetle Salt Creek Tiger Beetle
Scientific Name Phengodes plumosa Cicindela nevadica lincolniana
Order Coleoptera Coleoptera
Family Phengodidae Carabidae
Size 10-30 mm (female) 10-12 mm
Habitat Farmland Rivers & Streams
Diet Omnivores Predators
Regions Eastern North America Lancaster County, Nebraska, United States
Conservation Not Evaluated Endangered

Glowworm Beetle

A soft-bodied beetle whose larviform females glow with paired green lanterns along their body. Males are winged but do not glow.

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Did You Know?

Unlike fireflies, the female never develops wings and retains a larva-like form throughout life.

Salt Creek Tiger Beetle

One of the rarest insects in the world, this small tiger beetle has dark olive-brown elytra with faint white markings. It is found only on saline mud flats along Salt Creek in Lancaster County, Nebraska.

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Did You Know?

With fewer than 500 adults estimated in the wild, it is considered one of the rarest insects on Earth, threatened by urban development around Lincoln, Nebraska.