Cicindela scutellaris scutellaris Say Cicindela scutellaris lecontei Haldeman
Cicindela scutellaris lecontei Haldeman Cicindela scutellaris lecontei Haldeman
Distribution in North Dakota
Identification: Cicindela scutellaris scutellaris Say: Body size medium, about 11 or 12 mm in length. Dorsal surface of head bright metallic green. Dorsal surface of prothorax bright metallic green or metallic blue. Dorsal surface of elytra brilliantly iridescent, with hues of green, copper, red, and gold. Elytral markings almost always completely absent. If present, only as a broken apical lunule and middle band broken into dots. Labrum tridentate. Clypeus glabrous. Frons glabrous. Supraorbital region with a cluster of setae. Genae glabrous. Antennal scape with four sensory setae and several accessory setae. Cicindela scutellaris lecontei Haldeman: Body size medium, about 11 to 12 mm in length. Dorsal surface of head usually dull metallic green, though may be purple. Dorsal surfaces of prothorax and elytra dull or bright metallic green, blue or purple. Elytral markings broken or confluent around the lateral margin. Middle band poorly developed or absent. Frons either glabrous or setose. Other morphological characters identical to C. scutellaris scutellaris.
Remarks: Two subspecies occur in North Dakota: C. scutellaris scutellaris Say and C. scutellaris lecontei Haldeman. Their ranges overlap in the central part of the state and hybrids occur. Hybrids are iridescent, but have noticeable elytral markings along the margins. The image at the top right shows a specimen with thickly confluent elytral markings around the margin. Such specimens were once assigned to C. criddlei Casey, a name which has been synonymized with C. scutellaris lecontei. Some workers treat C. criddlei as a distinct subspecies. Cicindela scutellaris is a highly polymorphic species. The three C. scutellaris lecontei pictured above were collected from the same location on the same date in McHenry County.
See remarks on C. circumpicta pembina regarding similarity to C. scutellaris lecontei.
Habitat: Sparsely vegetated dry sandy areas.
North Dakota Distribution: C. scutellaris lecontei occurs in the eastern part of the state while C. scutellaris scutellaris occurs in the western part of the state.
Season: A spring/fall species. Adults are active in April and May, and again in August and September.