Species of Click Beetles are found all around the world. There are over 900 species known from North America, and probably more that haven't been discovered yet.

Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native ); palearctic (Native ); oriental (Native ); ethiopian (Native ); neotropical (Native ); australian (Native ); oceanic islands (Native )

Adult Click Beetles are long skinny beetles with grooves running down their wing covers. Most adult Click Beetles are 12-30 mm long, a few species get up to 45 mm. The front of their heads and the back end of their wing covers are rounded. Unlike most beetles, the connection between the first and second section of the thorax is flexible, they can move their heads and first pair of legs separately from the rest of the body. This lets them do the trick that they are named for. They can snap the two sections, making a loud click sound, and flipping themselves over if they are lying on their backs.

Click Beetle larvae are long and shiny, with tough segmented bodies. They are sometimes called wireworms. Unlike mealworms (which are larvae of another family of beetles) click beetle mouth parts point straight forward.

Range length: 12.0 to 40.0 mm.

Other Physical Features: ectothermic ; bilateral symmetry

Sexual Dimorphism: sexes alike; female larger

Adult Click Beetles are found on the ground, on plants, in decaying wood, or hiding under bark. Most Click Beetle larvae live in the soil, but some are found under bark, in decaying wood, and in moss. These kinds of beetles are found anywhere there is vegetation and soil, but are rare in deserts or flooded areas.

Habitat Regions: temperate ; tropical ; terrestrial

Terrestrial Biomes: taiga ; desert or dune ; chaparral ; forest ; rainforest ; scrub forest ; mountains

Wetlands: marsh

Adult click beetles feed on nectar, pollen, flowers, and sometimes soft-bodied insects like Aphididae. Click beetle larvae are mostly predators on small soil animals, but some eat roots and seeds.

In Great Britain and/or Ireland:
Animal / parasite
Syngliocladium anamorph of Syngliocladium aranearum parasitises live larva of Elateridae

Adult click beetles use their click to startle predators. They have tough bodies, and many species can fly. Many species hide during the day and are active only at night. Click beetle larvae are also tough, and spend their lives underground.

Known Predators:

• Talpidae
• Soricidae
• Aves
• Chiroptera
• Anura
• Squamata
• Araneae
• Carabidae
• mantids

Elateridae (cutworms, grasshoppers, clickbeetles) is prey of:
Bartramia longicauda
Sturnella neglecta
Pooecetes gramineus
Spizella passerina
Spizella pallida
Eremophila alpestris
CoRana pipiens

Based on studies in:
Canada: Manitoba (Grassland)

This list may not be complete but is based on published studies.

Elateridae (cutworms, grasshoppers, clickbeetles) preys on:
Helianthus
Agropyron
Stipa
Agrostis

Based on studies in:
Canada: Manitoba (Grassland)

This list may not be complete but is based on published studies.

Most Click Beetles communicate by scent and touch, but some tropical species glow. They have special structures that make light, even brighter than the lightning beetles we see in the U.S.

Like all beetles, Click Beetles have complete metamorphosis. Adult females lay eggs. The young that hatch from the eggs are larvae that are long with shiny segments and no wings. Many species spend a year or more in the larval stage. Larvae transform into pupae, which look sort of like the adults but are a resting stage. Many beetle spend the winter as pupae, but most Click Beetles spend the winter as larvae or adults. Each pupa transforms into an adult after a few days or weeks.

Development - Life Cycle: metamorphosis

Some species of Click Beetle can complete two generations in one year, but most take one or more years to become adults. A few species that live in especially cold climates talk 3 or 4 years.

Adult Click Beetles mostly mate in the summer, and then the females lay dozens to hundreds (number depends on species) eggs in the soil.

Breeding season: Summer.

Key Reproductive Features: seasonal breeding ; sexual ; fertilization (Internal ); oviparous

Parental Investment: no parental involvement

Energy stored to amplify power: click beetle
 

Click beetles store work to amplify power a thousandfold by deforming their external cuticle.

     
  "And that's where energy storage comes in. Down to the size of a trout or a squid tentacle, unaided muscle can do a decent job with nothing more than ordinary leverage. Below that, muscle needs help; in practice, energy is put in slowly and stored elastically. Some kind of trigger then releases it at a higher rate. Work and energy may be conserved, but power gets amplified…A click beetle stores up work by deforming the external cuticle; its power amplification is fully a thousandfold (Evans 1973). Each of these creatures has some kind of a mechanical catch to prevent premature extension while the work is being put in; the specific arrangements, though, are different for each case." (Vogel 2003:476)
  Learn more about this functional adaptation.

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) Stats
                                        

Specimen Records:	3,556	Public Records:	58
Specimens with Sequences:	2,544	Public Species:	26
Specimens with Barcodes:	1,963	Public BINs:	15
Species:	693
Species With Barcodes:	478

Access Published & Released Data: Download FASTA File

Collection Sites: world map showing specimen collection locations for Elateridae

No Click Beetle species are considered endangered.

The larvae of some Click Beetles eat roots and seeds, and are significant pests of potatos, corn and other crops.

Negative Impacts: crop pest

Some Click Beetle larvae are predators on root aphids and other pest insects. One species of glowing Click Beetles is being used for research into the evolution of genes.