Adults are extremely rapid runners. Collection of these species is most easily done with headlamp and hand collecting, or with pitfall traps in suitable habitat. Florida Cicindela are more diverse in behavior and habitat selection. This species has the unique characteristic of giving off an odor quite similar to Juicy Fruit Gum. Other Cicindela species occur in Florida on river sandbars, sand scrub dunes, coastal beaches, salt marsh mudflats, coral outcroppings in the outer Florida Keys, lakeshores, wooded paths, and on clay banks.
Tiger beetles are predators, feeding on insects they are able to capture with their mandibles.
Rather than specializing on certain species for prey, adults are opportunistic feeders. Active larvae sit at the top of their burrows waiting for prey to venture close enough to be grasped. Any insect not larger than the larva is potential prey, but ants seem to make up the majority of prey items for larvae of most species that have been studied. Eggs are deposited singly in shallow depressions. Upon eclosion the 1st instar larva digs a vertical burrow in which it will remain until pupation and adult emergence.