About Cicindela patruela Dejean, 1825
Adult Cicindela patruela beetles are medium-sized, usually measuring between 12 and 15 millimeters in length. Most individuals are metallic green, with ivory bands that extend out from the radial field of their elytra; the middle band typically crosses the full width of the elytra. The subspecies Cicindela patruela constenantea is metallic black, but retains the same ivory banding pattern seen in the main species. The larvae of this species look similar to other larvae in the genus Cicindela: they have a whitish body, a sclerotized head, and large mandibles that they use to capture prey. Cicindela patruela has very specific habitat requirements. It occurs in pine or oak barrens, pine- and oak-dominated savannahs, and areas that contain lichen, moss, and/or eroded sandstone. Although this beetle has been recorded across multiple states and provinces in eastern North America, it only exists in small, isolated populations within this broad region. Confirmed known locations include the New Jersey pine barrens, the Shawangunk mountains in New York, Pinery Provincial Park in southern Ontario, certain regions of the Appalachian mountains, the Valley-and-Ridge region of Maryland, other specific scattered areas in the Northeast, and the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan.
