Overview:  Like its feline namesake, the Columbia River tiger beetle is a beautiful but lethal predator.  All tiger beetles are known for their speed at both running and flying, and this species is no exception.  It hunts smaller insects by chasing them down and grabbing them with its large, sickle-shaped mandibles.  Tiger beetle larvae hunt by ambushing their prey, burrowing into tunnels as deep as 30 cm to lie in wait for a hapless insect passer-by.  The larval beetle has a proportionately large head with a set of mandibles that completely fills up the entrance to the burrow, as well as a pair of hooks at the end of its abdomen to anchor it to the sides of the burrow so that it cannot be pulled out by its struggling victim.  Although tiger beetles do have natural predators, the only real threat to the survival of this species is the destruction of the sandy shores in which they lay eggs and burrow.  Construction, flooding caused by dams, and off-road vehicle use along the Columbia and Snake River systems are some of the human-induced perils that have caused a major decline in the populations of these tiger beetles.  Predatory beetles serve an extremely valuable purpose within the ecosystems they inhabit by controlling outbreaks of herbivorous insects.
 

Distribution: This beetle is known only from the sandy shores of the Snake and Columbia Rivers, and their tributaries.