RE a previously unidentified brown beetle
Location: South East Michigan
June 17, 2011 11:15 am
Greetings Bugman,
I wrote, yesterday I think it was, about a large number of brown beetles that had found there way into my home. And though I had tried to identify them via my normally reliable resources, I had alas be left in the dark.
Since I have written that letter I have spent several hours browsing your site, as well as observing my most recent visitor. We captured it in a zippered sandwich bag the closest clear object at the time of its discovery… and at one point my daughter had flipped the bag over landing the creature on its back. It struggled for several seconds trying to right its self and then a pop came from the bag, the plastic shuddered slightly and suddenly it was right side up again! Eager to see this again we duplicated it several times and even completely grossed my husband out with it.
Having discovered this new distinction I started searching the web and found the term ”click beetle” but no picture to accompany it so I brought the term to your sight and low and behold I found an entry for a black click beetle! It looks exactly like mine with the only difference being the color (mine is brown).
The mystery of what is attracting them into our house has still got me cleaning like a nut and sealing all our dry goods in zippered plastic bags. Any suggestions that would lead their cuiriosity elsewhere would be apreciated.
Though it seems that since I’ve been holding the one for observation the rest have stayed hidden.
Thank you again,
Signature: Long Time Entomology Enthusiast (SB)
Click Beetle
Dear SB,
Your email has us positively charmed. We love the initiative you took to correctly identify your Click Beetle. Alas, we do not have the necessary skills to identify your beetle to the species level as many Click Beetles in the family Elateridae look very similar.
¶ Posted 17 June 2011 § ‡ ° Bug ID request
Location: Decatur, GA
June 15, 2011 6:55 am
Hi Bugman,
This large bug was flipping around on my patio the other day. I thought the ”eyes” were very interesting!
Thanks for your help.
Signature: Betsy
Eyed Elater
Dear Betsy,
The Eyed Elater is a large Click Beetle, and we are guessing that the flipping you refer to has to do with this beetle’s ability to right itself should it ever happen upon a situation where it is on its back. The Eyed Elater and many other Click Beetles are able to snap the thorax and abdomen against a hard surface when they are on their back which flips them into the air, often allowing the beetle to land on its feet. They eyes are not true eyes, but eyespots or oculi which serve as a defense mechanism by fooling predators into thinking the harmless Eyed Elater might actually be a larger predator like a snake.
¶ Posted 15 June 2011 § ‡ ° Found in DC June 1
Location: Washington, DC
June 2, 2011 8:32 am
A friend asked me if I knew what this was — I’ve never seen one. I’m guessing some kind of borer, but don’t really know.
Signature: MaryMc
Actually, I just figured out that it’s an eyed elater, so no need for you guys to trouble with it! Thanks anyway.
Eyed Elater
Hi MaryMc,
We realize you already self identified your Eyed Elater, which thrills us because we believe that most identification requests we receive can be researched using our archives and our excellent search engine. We really like your photograph which appeals to our sense of humor in that it illustrates the interactions wild creatures often have with the civilized world. If we ever find the time to create a new calendar, this image would be a strong contender. Since we will be away from the office in early June, we are postdating this entry to go live to our site next week.
A Proud Find
Location: Kyle, TX
May 24, 2011 9:41 am
This fella was found by my 6yr old son who was on a mission to find a new bug to observe in his insect habitat. He was very proud when he stumbled upon this find. He begs to know: ”What’s that bug?” Of course my response of: ”It looks like some sort of beetle…?” wasn’t good enough for him. 
Thanks!
(and yes, we set him free)
Signature: Camboski
Eyed Elater
Dear Camboski,
You are correct that this Eyed Elater is a Beetle, more specifically a Click Beetle. We have been getting many identification requests recently, mostly from Texas, with images of Eyed Elaters, but your photo is among the best and your letter was quite touching, and for those reasons, we are posting your identification request while the others merely received a quick personal response. We have also decided to include the Eyed Elater among our Top Ten identification requests tag.
Thanks so much for the informative and kind response!
We did a little research on ‘click beetles’ and learned an interesting fact about how if the beetle is on its back it can use its ‘click’ mechanism (if that’s what you would call it?) to bounce into the air in order to rotate itself back into the correct position. This is interesting/ironic to us because it explains my son’s excitmnent when he said “My bug friend can do tricks!” and then went on to explain how he bounced in the air from back position to right side up!
I never thought I’d be so excited about bugs! However, I suppose that’s what having a son does to a person 
p.s. Back in Nov. we sent in a picture of a Spiney Backed Orbweaver that we found during our camping trip that was also posted on the website. This site has helped us out a lot! Especially coming from NY to TX. There are a lot of strange critters out in these here parts!
Thanks again!!
¶ Posted 25 May 2011 § ‡ ° Tagged: Top 10 Big bug in our backyard
Location: Williamstown, New Jersey
May 21, 2011 2:19 pm
My 10 year old daughter found this bug in our backyard late May 2011 and was trying to find out what it was. The best she could come up with was ”some kind of weird beetle” but in our many camping trips had never seen anything quite like this. Can you help?
Signature: Curious Girl Scouts in NJ
Eyed Elater
Dear Curious Girl Scouts in NJ,
We are a bit late in getting to our mail this morning. There was some technical difficulty with our site this morning, and then we had some late morning commitments. We just returned from the Theodore Payne Foundation to do a dress rehearsal of our presentation next week and we are pleased that it seems there should not be any technical problems. This is the largest Click Beetle in North America, the Eyed Elater.
¶ Posted 21 May 2011 § ‡ ° Is this a Beetle??
Location: Beaufort, SC
May 5, 2011 5:02 pm
My fiance was surprised by this lovely bug while driving near Beaufort,SC on the coast. It was about 2 inches long and fell from his visor! Can you tell us what this is? Thanks so much!
Signature: Paige
Eyed Elater
Hi Paige,
This distinctive Click Beetle is called an Eyed Elater. The “eyes” are actually false eyespots that might frighten a predator into thinking that the Eyed Elater is a large potential threat ensuring that the beetle will avoid being eaten.
¶ Posted 06 May 2011 § ‡ ° April 29, 2011
Last night while posting to the website, Daniel felt something crawling on his neck, and it was this gorgeous large black Click Beetle. This is the second time this beetle has been found in our Mt Washington, Los Angeles offices, and the first sighting was almost exactly two years ago. Recently while planting walnuts in nearby Elyria Canyon Park, a large Wireworm was uncovered in the dirt. Sadly, there does not seem to be a match on BugGuide. Species in the genus Lanelater are not listed in California on BugGuide, and we thought we might have an identification with the California species Melanectes densus, but that species seems broader with different antennae than our little beauty. It seems a bit tragic that we are unable to identify our own species of Click Beetle, but perhaps Mardikavana or one of our other beetle aficionados will be able to provide an identification.
Unknown Click Beetle
We kept this beauty on the kitchen table under a glass until there was natural morning light for an indoor portrait and we later release it after taking some outdoor images as well.
Unknown Click Beetle
please identify this bug
Location: Sonome County, California
April 18, 2011 3:25 pm
I have found multiple bites on my horse. When searching her stall i found 4 of these creepy things, two in her shavings and two under the rubber mat.
they crawl very fast, I noticed that the last two sections of the body (tail) are dark compared to the rest of the body. 6 legs and what looks like two stingers on the tail.
Signature: Trina
Wireworm
Hi Trina,
This is a beetle larva, and we believe it is a Wireworm, the larva of a Click Beetle. You can see other photos of Wireworms on BugGuide. They are usually found in the soil where they eat insects, roots and seeds. We do not believe they are responsible for the bites on your horse which are much more likely to be caused by flies, especially Horse Flies. Since we will be out of the office for the rest of the week, we are postdating this entry to go live later in the week.
Wireworm
¶ Posted 24 April 2011 § ‡ ° 
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