Now what’s getting into our house? First we had the stink bug and now we have our annual parade of click beetles. This common invader is especially attracted to the porch light, and enters easily as we go in and out. They are slender, oval beetles around 0.25 to 0.75 of an inch long. The adults feed on nectar from flowers and are harmless. The larva or grubs are known as wire worms and can be a crop pest of corn. When approached by a predator, the beetle flips over and makes a clicking sound that resembles a finger snap. This can be a little startling if you have it wadded up in a tissue in your hand. Although I have never seen one myself, some species have these wonderful eye-spots:
2 responses so far ↓
1 Jadie // Feb 12, 2008 at 3:08 pm
We found some of these in Texas. We thought they were fireflies because they glow in the dark from four or so little spots in their heads., but upon closer examination found out they were a neat type of beetle. They are super cute and fun to play with!
2 Celena // Jun 15, 2008 at 10:37 pm
I was at a reunion in Keystone, SD looking around the yard next to the pond and looked on top of a stump and found a set of eyes and about freaked out! But when I moved closer, it didn’t move so I poked it with a stick, still nothing. We put this beetle into a bottle and asked others what it was, not a single person knew what it was. We went back to find more and found two more and I brought them home to do some research and found that there were Eyed Click Beetles or Elateridae. Very odd. They are harmless as adults but the larva eat trees, roots, etc. Larva take 3 to 10 years to mature, depending on the species. Adults eat flowers and some garden foods. Very different creatures and nothing I would like to keep! I am just glad I finally figured them out.
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