FOSSIL TIGER BEETLES (COLEOPTERA: CICINDELIDAE): 
REVIEW AND NEW QUATERNARY RECORDS 
By Christopher D. Nagano 1 , Scott E. Miller 2 
and Alan V. Morgan 
Introduction 
Fossil Cicindelidae are extremely rare in the stratigraphic record, 
probably due to the fragile nature of their exoskeleton. In this paper 
we summarize previous records and comment on new finds, as well 
as describe cicindelid specimens found in the southern California 
asphalt deposits which were noted, but not identified, by Pierce 
(1947a, 1947b). 
Southern California Asphalt Deposits 
Both the well known McKittrick asphalt deposit in Kern County, 
California and the Rancho La Brea sequence, Los Angeles County, 
California, have produced identifiable cicindelid specimens. Pierce’s 
specimens are deposited in the Natural History Museum of Los 
Angeles County (LACM). A fairly well-preserved specimen of Cicin- 
dela haemorrhagica LeConte (LACM Invert. Paleo. hypotype 4944) 
from the McKittrick asphalt deposit, retains complete markings on 
the elytra, and the elytral pleura still show a blue coloration similar 
to that of populations found along the sea coast of central San 
Diego County, California. A mandible (LACM Invert. Paleo. hypo- 
type 4945) also from McKittrick, is probably a cicindelid but family 
placement is uncertain due to the poor condition of the specimen. 
Both McKittrick specimens were collected by L. Bessom from W. 
D. Pierce’s “site 4” (LACM Invert. Paleo. Loc. 260), at a depth of 4 
feet (1.3m) (Pierce 1947b, Miller and Peck, 1979). This site has not 
yet been radiocarbon dated, but a Cybister elytron taken from a 
depth of 3 feet (l m) in the road cut at McKittrick has provided an 
‘Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California 90007. 
2 Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 
02138. 
^Department of Earth Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada 
N2L3G1. 
Manuscript received by the editor May l, 1982. 
339 
