 Six-spotted Tiger Beetle Cincindela sexguttata
Length: 1/2 to 9/16 inches.
Lifespan: 4 to 5 years including a 1-year larval stage.
Range: The Six-spotted Tiger Beetle is found over most of the eastern United States west to the Great Plains states. It is largely absent from the Gulf Coast region of the country. The range also extends northward into Southeastern Canada.
Habitat:  This beautiful tiger beetle is a denizen of wooded areas and they favor shady openings along unpaved paths. Locally, Grace Estate Nature Preserve in the northwest woods of East Hampton is a location where they may be easily found. A sunny morning in May is one of the best times to observe them basking in the sun and hunting along the dirt roads of the preserve.
Food: Voracious predators, tiger beetles actively hunt, kill and consume a wide variety of insects and spiders. Their large white mandibles give these attractive beetles a ferocious appearance, however they do not normally bite humans unless they are captured and handled. They have extremely acute vision which no doubt makes them very efficient at catching their prey. When approached the beetle will fly along a forest path, alight, and turn to face any intruder, as though judging when to fly away again.
Nesting and Reproduction: The female beetles lay eggs in sandy patches in the woods, and the larvae burrow into the ground when they hatch. Within these burrows the larvae lie in wait until small insects or spiders wander by, they then spring from their burrow much like a jack in the box and grasp their prey with strong jaws, pulling it back down into the burrow where it is consumed. After one season the larvae metamorphose into adults and if they do not fall prey to a larger insectivore, they can live for another four years. The adult beetles spend the winter months at the bottom of a burrow, which is often the same one, they occupied as a larva.
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