Click beetles, skipjacks, wire worms, Elateridae

Left is a beetle belonging to the Elateridae family. These are commonly known as click beetles or skipjacks, and the larvae (right and below) are know as wire worms. There are 9 000 species world wide, and 65 species in Britain. They range in length from 0.2 cm - 7.0 cm.

Elateridae larva, click beetle larva

Click beetle larvae

The larvae (above, right and below) are known as wire worms, they live on plant roots and cause a large amount of damage. In the UK DEFRA (2010) have recorded click beetle populations as high as 2.5 x 10⁶per hectare, and 3.8 x 10⁶ per hectare on permanent pasture.

It can take a larva five years of feeding before it is ready to pupate. The larva is elongate and cylindrical, and is usually orange or yellow in colour.

Elateridae larva, click beetle larva

Elateridae pupa, click beetle pupa

Left and right is the typical Elateriade pupa.

The click beetle click

When they are alarmed they will drop to the ground and play dead. Often they land on their backs, and once they feel danger has passed with get back up on their feet with a flick of their body. It is this flick accompanied by a clicking sound that gives them their common name. Some beetles can flick themselves to quite a height, and this has become their method of escaping danger.

Click beetle adults

The adult beetles have the typical elongated body of the Elateridae, with the pointed rear end and the head almost invisible. They feed on pollen, nectar, flowers or leaves.

On the right is Athous haemorrhoidalis, the Red-brown skipjack. The adult is 9 - 16 mm long, and has a brownish-black bulging thorax, and reddish-brown elytra (wing cases). It is most commonly seen in the summer months, especially May - July on flowers in or near hedgerows, field margins, woods, bracken and meadows throughout Europe, in England and Wales, it is less common in Scotland, and found in just a few places in Ireland. The larvae damage plant roots.