Salt Creek Tiger Beetle vs Neotropical Rove Beetle

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Salt Creek Tiger Beetle Neotropical Rove Beetle
Scientific Name Cicindela nevadica lincolniana Xanthopygus cognatus
Order Coleoptera Coleoptera
Family Carabidae Staphylinidae
Size 10-12 mm 12-18 mm
Habitat Rivers & Streams Woodlands
Diet Predators Fruit Feeders
Regions Lancaster County, Nebraska, United States Central and South America, Brazil to Mexico
Conservation Endangered Least Concern

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.

💡

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.

Neotropical Rove Beetle

A large, strikingly colored rove beetle with a bright orange pronotum contrasting with black elytra and head. It is one of the most conspicuous staphylinids in the Neotropical region.

💡

Did You Know?

The bright orange and black coloration of this beetle is thought to be aposematic, warning predators of its unpalatable defensive secretions.