Fastest insect on land

Australian tiger beetles belonging to the genus Cicindela and subgenus Rivacindela (Coleoptera: Cicindelidae) are the fastest running insects, and hence the fastest insects on land. The fastest species of all, Cicindela (Rivacindela) hudsoni, can run 2.5 metres per second (9 km/h; 5.6 mph per hour).

Cicindela (Rivacindela) hudsoni was previously known as Cicindela hudsoni. Prior to the tiger beetle research, the fastest insects on land were thought to be certain large cockroaches of the taxonomic order Dictyoptera, with a speed of 5.4 km/h (3.36 mph), or 50 body lengths per second, registered by Periplaneta americana at the University of California at Berkeley, USA, in 1991.