Hearing on rare tiger beetle near Walmart project set for Wednesday

Federal wildlife managers will hold a public hearing Wednesday on a proposal to add the feisty Miami tiger beetle to the endangered species list.

The beetle, thought to be extinct decades ago, can now only be found on pine rockland near Zoo Miami and land slated for a Walmart-anchored shopping center that hosts a menagerie of endangered species. If listed, the beetle would become the eighth endangered species living in the disappearing forest that once covered much of the rocky ridge that stretched between Florida City and the Miami River.

In 2007, a collector looking for butterflies stumbled on the small population. Another population was found last year, but biologists have been unable to survey land where the Walmart is planned.

Wednesday’s hearing will be held at Miami Dade College’s Kendall campus in Building 6000, Room 6120, 11011 SW 104th Street. Doors open at 5:30 with the hearing set to last from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

This story was originally published January 11, 2016 at 2:20 PM with the headline "Hearing on rare tiger beetle near Walmart project set for Wednesday."