Animal profile

Eyed Click Beetle

Alaus oculatus

InsectaDeciduous woodland with decaying logs and stumps

Field profile

The eyed click beetle is a large elaterid marked with two prominent black eyespots on the pronotum. Like other click beetles it can right itself with an audible snap by flexing a spine into a groove on the underside. Its larvae, known as wireworms, are predatory and live in rotting wood.

Published field notes

2025-02-17

Eyed Click Beetle

The click beetle jumps without using its legs

Turned on its back, a click beetle does not scramble. It arches, latches a spine against a notch in its thorax, releases the stored tension with a snap, and is thrown into the air legs uninvolved.

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