Overview:  The Idaho dunes tiger beetle is a predatory insect that is only found in sandy areas along the Snake River.  Adults are fast runners and fliers, feeding on flies, caterpillars, and other insects by crushing them with large mandibles.  Larvae excavate burrows that can be as deep as 30 cm, flinging sand grains as far away from the entrance as possible.  Here the larval tiger beetle waits motionlessly, its large head and mandibles completely filling up the burrow entrance.  When an insect approaches, the young beetle grabs it and pulls it down to the bottom of the burrow where it is consumed.  The biggest threat to these insects is the encroachment of non-native cheat-grass and other weeds onto the dunes where they lay their eggs.  Tiger beetle larvae depend on a strip of relatively stable, plant-free, sandy habitat bordering the shifting dunes.

Distribution: This beetle is endemic to the dunes of Idaho's Snake River plain.